Violence against Muslim minority has been a regular phenomenon for some decades. Its form and intensity have been varying but the intimidation continues. The other substantial minority, the Christians are also not spared, though violence against them is sporadic, not in the news most of the time. The major reason being its sub-radar nature. Though it’s sub-radar most of the times, around Christmas time its overt nature becomes much more apparent.
One recalls that in the decade of the late 1990s, the violence manifested in Orissa and Gujarat. And it is around that time that Atal Bihari Vajpayee commented that there is a need for national debate on the issue of conversion. Conversion has been the major pretext for attacking various events related to Christian community’s life. The prayers, the church meetings, the celebrations are the occasions when the attacks are orchestrated more. This year again it became manifest around the Christmas celebrations.
See Communalism Combat’s issue, in 1999 and 2007-2008 re-published in SabrangIndia on the violence in Dangs in South Gujarat during the Christmas of 1998 and the Kandhamal violence of 2008 in Orissa (Odisha) here and here.
The foot soldiers of Hindutva had a gala time attacking street vendors selling the Xmas wares like caps, dresses and associated things. At places they attacked the Santa Claus’s replicas, at others they vandalised churches and the showrooms selling Xmas wares. Tavleen Singh, the columnist wrote in Indian express, “The more intrepid of these Hindutva warriors stormed into churches and disturbed services with vandalism and violence. Videos of these ‘accomplishments’ were uploaded on social media. In one of them, I saw a BJP legislator enter a church in Jabalpur and harangue a blind woman, whom she accused menacingly of trying to convert Hindus to Christianity…there were nearly a hundred attempts to disrupt Christmas festivities and nearly all of them occurred in states ruled by the BJP. Nobody was punished and no chief minister openly deplored the violence.”
These events have been covered in the international media also. Few papers commented about the possibility of retaliatory violence against Hindus in those countries. The interesting aspect of the Indian states’ attitude against these events is their loud silence and it is no coincidence that most of this violence has been taking place in BJP ruled states. Fortunately, we have a non-biological Prime Minister who in the face of this visited the Church and offered prayers! It was an interesting phenomenon that inside the Church the Hindutva top leader is creating an optics of respecting Christianity while his followers are doing anti-Christian vandalism on the streets and Churches.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (Dec. 22, 2025) report very aptly summarises the tremendous rise in anti-Christian violence over the years “Between 2014 and 2024, documented incidents of violence against Christians rose from 139 to 834, an increase of over 500%. In 2025 alone (January–November), more than 700 incidents have already been recorded, affecting families, churches, schools, hospitals, and service institutions (based on United Christian Forum-UCF figures). Dalit Christians, Adivasi Christians, and women are among the most affected.” The US Commission on International Religious Freedom again recommended designating India as a Country of Particular Concern in its 2025 report, citing concerns over religious freedom. Human Rights Watch and other bodies documented issues affecting minorities.
Christmas eve violence is not new as a Bishop recently reminded his community, while cautioning the Churches in Raipur “In Raipur, however, the Catholic archbishop, Victor Henry Thakur, was very worried. He sent a letter to local churches, schools and other institutions urging caution, “In the light of the call for Chhattisgarh Bandh tomorrow, I feel and suggest that all our churches, presbyteries, convents and institutions should seek protection in writing from the local police. Please consider my suggestion because it seems to have been planned just before Christmas, as was the case at Kandhamal in Odisha.”
This reminds of violence around Christmas in Orissa in 2007 and 2008. The one which was orchestrated in 2008 took a massive proportion as nearly 70000 Christians had to flee and nearly 400 churches were vandalized.
In the face of this one could have expected the Church hierarchy to have expressed their concern about the attacks on Christians, but their silence on this serious matter shows either their lack of concern for their community or some other hidden vested interest in keeping mum on the issue.
One has also witnessed state after state adopting anti-conversion laws, titled ‘Freedom of Religion Acts’. This is putting rigorous conditions on the religious conduct of the community. Pastors and priests are arrested on pretext of conversion activity and face the legal rigmarole for years.
The propaganda that Christians are converting needs to be visited yet again. Christianity is an old religion in India having come here through St Thomas in AD 52 on Malabar Coast. The social perception that it came with British rule has no basis. From AD 52 to 2011, when the last census was held, the percentage of Christians rose to 2.3% as per the census figures. It is nobody’s case to deny that some conscious conversion work might have taken place. The census figures further just have a look at the figures of Christian population from 1971 to 2011. !971-2.60%, 1981-2.44%, 1991-2.34% and 2001-2.30%. That tells an interesting tale.
Pastor Graham Stains was also burnt alive with his two sons’ Timothy and Philip in a dastardly and baseless “revenge killing by the far right” on grounds t of indulging in conversion work. The otherwise flawed Wadhva Commission which went into this ghastly murder in its report points out that there was no statistical increase of Christians in Keonjhar where Pastor Stains was working for decades among leprosy patients.
There are many Christian missionary education institutes and hospitals, which are very much sought after. The conversions which have taken place are more among Adivasi and Dalits who have been thronging to the education and health facilities in remote areas. It is possible that major conversions might have taken place while seeking these facilities in remote areas where state facilities are sparse.
The hatred constructed around conversion is now very widespread. The attacks on recent Christmas celebrations is a horrific manifestation. The state authorities and political class –when such attacks happen and are reported — is either mute or even complicit. The compliant state machinery is the major cause of gradual intensification of the anti-Christian activity in diverse forms. This years’ attacks are a warning signal of the silence and double speak of the ruling dispensation. On the one hand leaders go to pray in a Church and on the other to let the vandals do their job. One hopes that international responses (repercussions) take the form of Government to Government expressed concerns, responding to appeals of religious freedom and the union government responding effectively to these appeals.
(This piece has been edited for publication—Editors)
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.
Related:
Peaceful street protest in Mumbai condemns Christmas-time attacks on Christians across India
Conversions and anti-Christian violence in India