Christian community in India has suffered as many as 400 incidents of violence in the first half 2023, says the United Christian Forum, an ecumenical group.
A press statement from the forum titled, “Atrocities against Christians in India increasing drastically year on year,” says the incidents have occurred in 23 of India’s 28 states.
A forum official told Matters India July 11 that they have not included the northeastern Indian state of Manipur where ethnic violence allegedly targeting Christians has raged since May 3.
During the same period last year, the forum recorded 274 such incidents against Christians in India. January topped last year’s chart with 121 incidents (almost 4 incidents a day), followed by 40 in May, 31 in February, 29 in April, 28 in March and 25 in June.
However, the Indian government disputes the figures as wrong data used to sully the image of the country abroad.
On April 13, the government said this while responding to a public interest litigation filed by Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore Reverend Vijayesh Lal of Evangelical Fellowship of India, and others who claimed violence against Christians in the country.
Archbishop Machado and others in their petition had told a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that from 2021 to May 2022, 700 cases of violence against Christians were reported and a majority of those arrested were followers of the faith.