Christian Solidarity Worldwide

India:  Anti-Christian violence and the law

India has a long history of religious diversity, where mutual respect and violent intolerance often exist in parallel.

Violence and discrimination against religious minorities are most commonly fostered by the extremist Hindu nationalist movement and are justified by their strong opposition to religious conversions.

The worst case of communal violence faced by Christians in post-independence India took place in Orissa state in 2008, including brutal murders and rapes, widespread destruction of churches and property, and forcible conversions to Hinduism.  The situation in the aftermath of this violence still gives considerable cause for concern, with three aspects in particular.

The first is rehabilitation: most relief camps closed through 2009, but many victims continue to live in poor conditions in makeshift shelters or displacement camps with no clear idea of whether or when they will be able to return, and while government compensation has been delivered to some extent, it is rarely commensurate with needs.

The second is impunity:  this is the result of endemic bias and dereliction of duty among police, granting of bail in important cases, and the judicial system being ill-equipped to deal with the contingencies of the situation.

The third is reconciliation:  there is no viable means of community reconciliation, and many victims still live in fear.

Religiously motivated attacks against Christian targets continued throughout 2009, most frequently in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh states.  Although there was no concentrated period of mob violence, the regular, frequent attacks nevertheless amounted to a significant problem of communal violence.

Avenues of legal redress are theoretically strong in India, but the implementation of the law is weak, and negligent police responses are particularly common in cases of religiously-motivated violence.

CSW has the strong view that the government should address systemic problems underlying this pattern of violence, including by investigating the activities of extremist organisations responsible for instigating the widespread violence against religious minorities, and by tackling the failings of law enforcement authorities in response to such violence.

Overall, India boasts an excellent constitution and a strong body of legislation providing for the right to freedom of religion and belief, proscribing discrimination based on religion, and protecting the rights of religious minorities.

However, there are a number of problematic areas of legislation.  These include the de facto penalisation of Dalits who convert to religions other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, which several Indian bodies and two UN committees have recommended be changed, and state-level “anti-conversion laws”, described by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief as raising “serious human rights concerns”