The United Christian Forum (UCF), a Delhi-based civil society organisation focused on Christian issues, has said that the first 2.5 months of 2024 have witnessed a large-scale erosion of basic fundamental rights and protection of Indian Christians.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the UCF in a statement in Delhi said, “January witnessed 70 incidents of violence against Christians followed by 62 incidents in 29 days of February and 29 incidents in 15 days of March, 2024”. This comes to a total of 161 incidents in 2.5 months.
The incidents include violence, attacks on churches or prayers meetings, harassment of those following their faith, ostracisation and limiting access to community resources, and false allegations, particularly those pertaining to forced conversions, the Christian forum said.
Ostracisation of Christians for following their faith continues in Chhattisgarh, according to the press release. “Christians are being denied access to water from the community-bore-well of the village. In this state, sadly, even dead Christians are not spared as many were denied burial as per Christian rituals. Local villagers have been threatening to cremate the bodies as a final act of Gharwapasi….Locals are physically assaulting, threatening their lives and vandalizing their homes,” the UCF has said.—KMS
