The legal cell of Catholic lawyer-priests and nuns has vowed to extend help to Indian minorities, including Christians, as persecution against them increases in India. “We have decided to provide legal help to the victims of atrocities and discrimination from the minority communities, especially Christians, irrespective of their denominational differences,” said Father Bondala Sleeva Raju, Telegu regional convener of the National Lawyers’ Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP). The regional forum is based in the southern Telugu region, covering India’s two Telugu-speaking states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Our teams will extend the help “free of cost” as our primary objective is to protect the rights of the country’s minorities, Raju told on Dec. 9 after a three-day convention of the NLFRP concluded in Eluru in Andhra Pradesh on Dec. 8. We are concerned about Christians amid rising persecution against them over alleged charges of religious conversion, the priest attached to Vijayawada diocese in Andhra Pradesh added. Eleven states, most of them ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party governments, have enacted a draconian anti-conversion law that curbs the citizen’s right to change religion without prior approval from government officials. These laws often target Christians and Muslims, the NLFRP meeting noted.