Calm before the storm

 There is a saying in English that ‘there is a calm before the storm’. The calm is the disinclination of the Indian mainstream media to highlight rising persecutions and brutal assaults and even killings on Christians during the past few years. The storm is the rising incidents of atrocities against religious minorities that could well turn out to be a serious problem. According to 2011 census data, 79.80% of the population of India is Hindu, 14.23% Muslim, 2.30% Christian, 1.72% Sikh, 0.70% Buddhist, and 0.37% Jain. Recently, India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the massive paramilitary organization that drives the ideology of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), met recently in a small hill town in Madhya Pradesh, central India, where they created a new slogan: “Chadar aur Father Mukt Bharat” – which translates to: “An India Liberated of Muslims and Christians.” According to a media report, the word “chadar” refers to a cloth sheet to symbolize Muslims and “father” in English refers to priests. The RSS, who promote a form of nationalism, oppose the spread of “foreign religions” like Islam and Christianity. The Human Rights Watch report stated that Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and RSS (the sister organisations of the BJP) are the most accused organizations for violence against Christians in India. In the first half of 2021 (from January to June) 145 cases of violence against Christians in India were documented: as reported in a note sent to Agenzia Fides by the Commission for Religious Freedom within the “Evangelical Fellowship of Indian” Religious Liberty Commission“(EFI), among the 145 episodes, there are three murders. In its 2020 report the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reported that violence against Christians also increased. The Commission stated that with at least 328 violent incidents, often under accusations of forced conversions, the attacks frequently targeted prayer services and led to the widespread shuttering or destruction of churches. The figure does not need to reach 100 or more for atrocities to be taken serious note of. The report by the Religious Liberty Commission of Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFIRLC) detailed incidents of hate and violence against Christians in the first half of the year, including 43 arrests of Christians falsely accused of crimes, 24 events of threats or harassment, 21 physical assaults, 20 incidents of village-wide ostracization of Christians, and other incidents of shutting down worship services, vandalization of churches and even three demolitions of churches. Since the tally is greater than the same time period in 2020; it clearly proves that atrocities have grown. These are embarrassing to the BJP government at the Centre as it tries to get closer with the US economically and militarily as a counter to the Sino-Pakistan nexus. According to Shiv Sena Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plain-talk on zero tolerance against religious discrimination was not aimed at “pro Hindutva” forces. The Sena suggested that he might have on his mind those “bigots” who convert Hindus to their respective faiths by “deception.” Though the Modi government seeks to assure the west that it is going to exercise the rule of law equally, yet when no action has been taken against the perpetrators, there is little that can be expected.