Attacks on Christians in India have increased in number by 500% over the last decade, the United Christian Forum (UCF) said in press conference in New Delhi on November 4.
The UCF is an inter-denominational Christian group and is based in New Delhi, India.
“Between 2014 and 2024, incidents of violence against Christians rose sharply—from 139 to 834—a staggering 500 percent increase,” said A.C. Michael, UCF's national convenor, at the press conference.
There have been nearly 5,000 attacks on Christian “individuals, families, communities, and institutions across the country" over the last decade, Michael told the Asian Catholic outlet UCA News.
In the nine months of 2025, there were 579 attacks on Christians reported throughout India, said Michael. Only 39 — less than 10% — resulted in any sort of police case, he added.
Michael credited "anti-Christian propaganda, false allegations of religious conversions, and politically driven hatred" for why the number of attacks on the faithful has increased in recent years.
Converting to Christianity is illegal in 12 of India's 28 states. Most of these states are ruled by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist political party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has served as India's prime minister since 2014, is a member of the BJP.
Even the accusation of a religious conversion is "used as a political weapon before every election by the current government," said UCF President Michael Williams to UCA.
Christians of any denomination make up about 2% of India's population. India is a majority Hindu country.
India in the spotlight for religious freedom violations
The 2025 Religious Freedom Report, published by the organization Aid to the Church in Need, listed India among 24 countries where "persecution" was occurring.
In India, said the report, the forces behind the persecution of religious groups include "a combination of authoritarianism and ethno-religious nationalism."
In 2024 and again in 2025, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that India be designated one of the "Countries of Particular Concern," (CPC) indicating more persecution than its previous "Special Watch List" status.
The CPC label is the highest designation the U.S. Secretary of State can put on a country for religious freedom violations. It is reserved for countries with governments that have either engaged in or tolerated "particularly severe violations of religious freedom," says the State Department's website.
These "particularly severe" violations include torture, prolonged imprisonment with no charges filed, "forced disappearance," as well as "other flagrant denial of life, liberty, or security of persons."
Conversely, the "Special Watch List" or "Watch List" label means a country is not nearly a CPC, "but which require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the governments."
The State Department does not presently list India as either a CPC or SWL country.
