Survey finds rise in attacks on Christians in State

By Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), United Christian Forum and United Against Hate, jointly conducted a survey and have produced a fact-finding report on ‘Christians Under Attack in India.’ According to the Forum, the anti-conversion bill proposed by the Karnataka government led to the rise in attacks on Christians across India.

Addressing the media on Sunday, Bengaluru Archbishop Peter Machado said, “There are at least 305 incidents of violence against Christians in nine months of 2021, with 69 incidents in September alone, followed by 50 in August, 37 in January, 33 in July, 27 each in March, April and June, 20 in February and 15 in the month of May. It is very sad to say that in all these incidents, only 27 FIRs have been registered till date.”

On Saturday, members of Christian Community staged a protest against the proposed Karnataka anti-conversion bill at St Francis Xavier Cathedral grounds in Bengaluru. “The entire Christian Community in Karnataka opposes the proposal of the Anti-Conversion Bill in one voice and questions the need for such an exercise when sufficient laws and court directives are in place to monitor any aberration of the existing laws,’’ Archbishop Machado said.

Uttar Pradesh topped this infamous list with 66 attacks this year alone, followed by Chhattisgarh (47), Jharkhand (30) and Madhya Pradesh (26). These four states have recorded 169 incidents of violence against Christians in these nine months. “The growing resentment in Karnataka in recent days is also a major concern. Our state is witnessing a spurt in attacks against Christians. This year, there were 32 such incidents in Karnataka,” Archbishop added.

This is followed by Bihar with 19 such instances, Odisha (15), Maharashtra (13), Tamil Nadu (12), Gujarat (9), Punjab (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Haryana (5), Uttarakhand (5), Delhi (3), Telangana (2), West Bengal (2), Rajasthan (2), Assam (1) and Himachal Pradesh (1). The fact-finding team recorded 50 incidents of attacks on Christians in various parts of the country in the recent past. It was also reported that at least 1,331 women were injured in such incidents and over 588 tribals and 513 Dalits.

At least 288 incidents of mob attacks and violence were reported in the aforementioned nine months, wherein twenty-three incidents which caused damage to the places of worship were reported. Authorities and police disallowed the assembly of people for religious activities under one pretext or the other 85 times, they said.