Hindu Extremists Target Christians Amid Rising Hate in India

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has seen a significant increase in anti-Muslim violence over the past decade. Recently, Hindu hardline groups affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced a shutdown in the central Indian city of Raipur on Christmas Eve. The protest was called due to allegations of “forced” religious conversions by Christians.

On the same day, a group of men armed with wooden sticks stormed a shopping mall in Raipur, vandalizing Christmas decorations and disrupting celebrations. Police filed a case against 30-40 unidentified attackers but only arrested six, who were released on bail within days. The incident was not an isolated one, as reports have shown that religious hate speech and violence in India are escalating.

According to a new report by the India Hate Lab, a project of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), there were 1,318 reported hate speech events in 2025, averaging over three per day. These incidents were largely organized and led by Hindu majoritarian groups as well as the governing BJP.

The report found that Muslims remained the primary target of hate speech, but there was also a significant increase in anti-Christian rhetoric. Hate speech targeting Christians rose from 115 in 2024 to 162 in 2025, a 41% increase. Similar incidents were reported across India, including in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh.

The report also highlighted instances of intimidation and violence against Christians, including a leader from the BJP leading a mob that disrupted a Christmas lunch for visually impaired children. In another incident, women wearing Santa caps were intimidated by Hindu supremacists in Delhi.

Experts say that these incidents mark a new escalation in religious hate that India’s minorities have had to combat since the BJP came to power in 2014. The report notes that the country’s small Christian minority accounts for only 2.3% of the population, while Muslims make up 14.2%, and Hindus account for 80%.

Source: Al Jazeera