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India: Police Stand by as Hindu Nationalists Attack Christian Farmers

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Amid intensifying persecution of Christians in India, police in Chhattisgarh state stood by as a large mob of Hindu nationalists attacked a group of Christian agricultural workers who refused to denounce Christ and leave their communal farm last month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

On October 30, fourteen Christian farmers in south Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district found themselves surrounded by hundreds of Hindus who stormed onto their land and set about destroying their homes and crops and beating them with wooden sticks, ICC reports. Two women in the Christian group suffered head trauma and broken bones.

Christian rights activist Nagesh Micha noted in a statement to ICC that police were present at the riot and did not intervene. “The police, which are supposed to uphold the fundamental rights of an individual, have allowed 14 people to be beaten in their presence,” Micha said. “This means there are higher authorities who are supporting the mobs.”

In a current website statement about the situation facing India’s Christians, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy reports: “Christians around the nation of India find themselves increasingly under threat. This hostility is often driven by an ongoing belief among some Hindu extremists that Indians ought to be Hindu—and any faith outside of Hinduism is not welcome in India. This mindset has led to violent attacks across the country and impunity for the people who perpetrate this violence, especially in places where the authorities are also Hindu hardliners.”

Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014, India ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.