The climate of fear and mistrust among people, cultures and religious communities across India is alarming, an Indian told at an International gathering in Rome, Italy.

Trends such as “populism” and “Hindu nationalism” drastically sweeping the country can pose great dangers and threats for society at large, said Father Charles Irudayam, former secretary, Office for Justice, Peace and Development, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), New Delhi. A sense of “insecurity” and “polarization” marks India’s present political atmosphere and threatens its social fabric, said Father Irudayam, the lone Indian representative at the September 18-20 “World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism.”

Some 200 delegates across the world are attending the event. Some 15 Asian delegates are participating in the two-day program. Father Irudayam, parish priest at the Kalladithidal church in Sivaganga diocese of Tamil Nadu, southern India, also spoke about the internal migrant problems in India.
Hundreds of migrants from northern Indian states like Odisha,

West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh to work in the south continue to face discrimination, he said.