India - Religiously-Motivated Violence & Discrimination against Christians 26/03/2009
Executive summary
2008 saw a continued pattern of religiously-motivated violence perpetrated against the Christian community across numerous states. This included large-scale violence in Orissa state in the weeks after 23 August 2008, the ramifications of which are ongoing, and a sustained campaign of violence in Karnataka state during a similar period. Impunity for perpetrators and inciters of religiously-motivated violence, and the weak implementation of laws to protect religious minorities from violent reprisals, continued to be very significant problems.
At the root of many of the issues discussed in this briefing is the ideology of ‘Hindutva’, the politically extreme, nationalist interpretation of Hinduism, which, in practice, seeks to preserve and defend the cultural hegemony of Hinduism at the expense of minority religions and which propagates a culture assuming the illegitimacy of religious conversions.
The final third of 2008 saw the worst spate of ‘communal violence’ ever faced by the Christian community in post-independence India, centred on Kandhamal district but spreading across Orissa state. The violence was catalysed by the assassination of the local figurehead of the radical Hindu nationalist group, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), on 23 August by unknown assailants. By 24 August, mobs were rampaging around the district, setting up roadblocks, shouting Hindu nationalist and anti-Christian slogans and openly blaming Christians for the killing of Saraswati and calling for revenge, as they launched attacks on Christian targets. The violence resulted in the killing of 70 (with more than 50 unaccounted for) and the displacement of at least 50,000, and was characterised by brutal violence and forcible conversions to Hinduism. The roots of this violence lie principally in the systematic propagation of hatred and violence against Christians by proponents of ‘Hindutva’, while also co-opting adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) into Hinduism. The most pressing concerns, as of January 2009, included the filing and proper investigation of cases by police, the delivery of compensation and addressing the humanitarian situation.
Religiously-motivated violence against Christians was also a particularly significant problem in Karnataka, including an intense period of seemingly co-ordinated attacks on church targets between August-October 2008, concentrated largely in coastal Dakshina Kannada district, with smaller numbers of attacks also taking place in other areas. Coastal Karnataka is reputed as an area in which Hindu nationalist organisations have been active for over fifteen years in propagating the ‘Hindutva’ agenda.
Police negligence or complicity in response to religiously-motivated violence remained a pervasive problem, including allegations of severe negligence in Orissa and participation in anti-Christian violence in Karnataka.
Despite the existence of strong constitutional protections for religious freedom, there exist two significant legislative restrictions. Firstly, the designation of Scheduled Castes is linked to religious affiliation, so Dalits who convert to other religions lose their eligibility for the ‘reservation’ system, and violence against them cannot be litigated under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Secondly, India’s seven state-level Freedom of Religion Acts, known informally as ‘anti-conversion laws’, pose a threat to freedom of religion through their restriction of religious conversions and their damaging normative effect on religious minorities.
The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief published a report after her mission to India in 2008, which raises concern on each of these issues. It is strongly recommended that the government of India should be urged to implement the recommendations of this briefing.
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