WSJ opinion warns of rising attacks on Christians, minorities in India

Piece links surge in violence and intimidation to era under Prime Minister Modi

A recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal has warned of what it described as a sustained rise in violence, intimidation and hostility toward Christians and other religious minorities in India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.

The article said that while Muslims have faced widespread discrimination and targeted attacks, Christians -- who make up about 2.3% of India’s population and largely belong to poorer communities -- are increasingly being targeted through mob harassment, vandalism of churches and accusations of forced conversions.

It noted that at least 12 Indian states have enacted anti-conversion laws that ban religious conversions on grounds of force, fraud or allurement. According to the piece, these laws are frequently used against Christian congregations and clergy.

The article cited incidents around Christmas in several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states. These included reports of Hindu nationalist groups disrupting church services in Uttar Pradesh, chanting hostile slogans outside places of worship and vandalising Christmas displays in Chhattisgarh.

Also read: Festive season marred by persecution in India

It also referred to video clips circulating on social media showing a regional political leader interrupting a church gathering in Madhya Pradesh and confronting worshippers.

Human rights group Citizens for Justice and Peace was quoted as saying that Christmas had become a national flashpoint for majoritarian assertion. The United Christian Forum was cited as documenting a sharp rise in anti-Christian incidents, from 139 cases in 2014 to 834 in 2024, with 706 incidents recorded up to November 2025.

The opinion piece also referenced the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which in its 2025 report recommended that Washington designate India a “country of particular concern.” The commission cited what it described as unchecked violations of religious freedom and mob violence carried out with impunity.

The article noted that Modi attended Christmas Mass in New Delhi this year and spoke of harmony and compassion. However, it argued that his government has not publicly condemned recent attacks attributed to hardline Hindu groups in other parts of the country.

The piece placed these developments in a broader context of what it described as a weakening of India’s secular ethos under the ruling BJP, while acknowledging that previous governments had also struggled to fully contain sectarian excesses.