A watchdog is sounding the alarm about increasing anti-Christian persecution in India, the world’s most populous nation.
Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at Christian Solidarity International, told CBN News that the intensifying situation comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to the U.S. this week to meet with President Donald Trump.
The encounter could offer an opportunity for Trump and the West to pressure Modi to stem the tide of persecution, according to Veldkamp. The watchdog said the most “extreme case” of persecution is unfolding in Manipur, a state in India’s northeast.
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“This is a place where, about two years ago, the region exploded into anti-Christian violence,” Veldkamp said. “There was a conflict over land rights about who had what right to own what land in the territory, and it turned into a religious conflict.”
And that conflict forced 40,000 Christians to flee their homes over the course of a few weeks. With nearly two years passing since that chaos, the situation remains grim for the majority Christian Kuki-Zo community.
“Most of them now live in refugee camps where the rates of deaths from cancer, and kidney failure, and other treatable illnesses have really skyrocketed, because they simply have no access to medicine or to basic supplies,” he said. “And that violence against this specific group of Christians called the Kuki-Zo people continues until this day.”
Just months ago, one of the most horrific examples of violence unfolded.
“There was a mother of three, a Christian woman from this indigenous group … who was attacked by Hindu militants, raped, and burned alive,” Veldkamp said. “And that set off another round of violence between the groups, scores of people were killed, more people were displaced, and the government really seems kind of completely absent from this situation.”
He added that the humanitarian aid to those suffering is “weak” and that government officials have sometimes been complicit, if not lackluster, in their response.
These issues come as India struggles with rising persecution. The majority of the nation — about 80% — is Hindu and the small Christian minority, which makes up just 2%, is often targeted and blamed for problems.
“India has a long tradition of democracy, of the rule of law,” Veldkamp said. “But, in the last 10 years or so, things have been getting really systematically worse for Christians and other religious minorities in India.”
With the government being led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — a cohort Veldkamp said has “roots in Hindu nationalism” — problems have persisted and Christian persecution has raged.
“The party that’s in power has been able to use kind of religious identity as a weapon that gets its opponents to stay in power,” he said. “So it encourages its supporters to vote for it because they say they are the true Hindu party — they are the party that will protect India’s Hindu identity.”
Veldkamp continued, “And, of course, that kind of rhetoric requires an enemy, and, unfortunately, India’s very small Christian population becomes that enemy in the eyes of many of the followers of this political party.”
Veldkamp is hoping Modi’s meeting with Trump and other U.S. officials Wednesday and Thursday — which is certain to focus on other issues like immigration and tariffs — could also help stem some of the tides of persecution.
“It’s a very important week for U.S.-Indian relations,” he said. “Trump has a relationship with this Prime Minister, and Trump also promised to be a president who would care for persecuted Christians in the world and try to protect them.”
Veldkamp continued, “So he doesn’t have to flip over the table. He doesn’t have to make threats. He doesn’t have to harm the relationship. But while he’s in the room with the prime minister, I think the president should just say to him, ‘Look, we know this is happening…we know you’re probably not happy about it. We encourage you to really do something about it.”
India ranks 11th on the Open Doors World Watch List, a ranking of the worst nations in the world for Christian persecution.
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