Police in Kerala have arrested several individuals following an alleged attack on a Christmas carol group in Palakkad district, an incident that has drawn condemnation from religious leaders and civil society groups.
Dozens of Christians across India are spending the Christmas season in detention after being charged under state anti-conversion laws, raising fresh concerns among church leaders and human rights groups about religious freedom in the country.
Violent clashes broke out in a village in Chhattisgarh this month after local tribal residents objected to the burial of a Christian man, raising fresh concerns over the safety of Christian communities in the region.
The high court in Madhya Pradesh has ruled that Catholics do not need government or police permission to sing Christmas carols while visiting homes, easing concerns among the state’s small Christian community ahead of the festive season.
Fresh incidents of harassment and arrests linked to allegations of religious conversion were reported across northern India on recent Sundays, with police detaining at least a dozen Christians in separate cases, church representatives said.
Christian families in Chhattisgarh have been prevented from burying their dead in their home villages, forcing them to seek burial sites far away amid opposition from local residents and limited intervention by authorities, according to media reports.
The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh has ordered the state government to take firm action against people who convert to Christianity but continue to claim benefits reserved for Scheduled Castes.
The Catholic Diocese of Belgaum in Karnataka has received assurances from the state government that police protection will allow it to resume construction of a church in Gadag district, after work was halted by two Hindu groups.
Christian leaders in Chhattisgarh are urging the administration to ensure safety during Christmas and New Year celebrations, saying the community is facing growing intimidation and violence.
The Allahabad High Court has held that distributing Bibles and preaching religion does not constitute a criminal offence under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, while criticising the state police for what it termed as overreach in handling such cases.
Around 1,500 Christians from 14 to 15 states converged at Jantar Mantar on 29 November to voice concerns over a sharp rise in targeted violence and systematic discrimination against the minority community.
Two Christian families in Chhattisgarh were prevented from burying relatives on their own land after villagers refused to permit Christian burials and demanded Hindu rites instead.
