Christians across India are increasingly being harassed and falsely accused of illegal religious conversions, particularly during peaceful worship services, according to local church leaders.
In Madhya Pradesh, about 100 believers gathered for a regular Sunday service at a church near Jabalpur when a group of Hindu extremists interrupted the meeting. The intruders accused the pastor and attendees of converting Dalits and tribal groups to Christianity and threatened further action if such gatherings continued.
“These people came claiming to protect Hinduism and demanded action against our church,” said Atul Jacob, a local Christian leader. Despite reporting the incident to the police and even the district’s top officer, no action was taken, he said.
Similar disruptions took place the same day in the neighboring state of Chhattisgarh, where a group of hardliners attempted to assault worshippers before police arrived. “These kinds of attacks have become common,” said Pastor Moses Logan, president of the All India Christian Welfare Society. “What’s worse is the police often ignore our complaints while acting immediately on accusations from right-wing groups.”
India’s anti-conversion laws—enacted in several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh—are being used to target Christian minorities. These laws penalize religious conversions allegedly made through force, fraud, or inducement, but rights groups say they are often misused to suppress minority faiths.
In many cases, simple prayer meetings are falsely labeled as mass conversion events. In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, more than 100 Christians have reportedly been jailed this year under conversion charges. “Even house church gatherings are now seen as suspicious,” one church leader noted.
Eight Christians were arrested on May 18 in Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh, following a complaint from a Hindu nationalist group. The state's law allows up to 20 years in prison for those found guilty of illegal conversions.
Beyond legal threats, Christians also face social discrimination—being ostracized, denied burial in village cemeteries, and publicly defamed by local media, Logan said.
According to the United Christian Forum, India is witnessing at least two anti-Christian incidents each day. In the first few months of the year alone, 245 cases were recorded across 17 Indian states.
Church leaders continue to call on the government to uphold constitutional rights, including religious freedom, and to ensure law enforcement remains neutral.
Based on reporting originally shared by UCA News.
