India’s bishops lament ‘alarming rise’ in attacks
The bishops highlighted an incident involving a local BJP official.
India’s bishops condemned Tuesday an “alarming rise” in attacks on Christians ahead of Christmas.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India expressed “deep anguish” at the incidents in a strongly worded Dec. 23 statement.
The CBCI, which brings together the country’s Latin, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankara bishops, highlighted a Dec. 20 video, in which a local official belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party physically harassed a visually impaired woman attending a Christmas event in the city of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, central India.
In the video, shared widely on social networks, BJP city vice president Anju Bhargava was seen standing over the seated woman, identified as Safalta Kartik, shouting at her and clutching her jaw. A young girl sat next to Kartik, while a police officer stood behind, appearing to call for calm.
Indian media reported that the incident took place at a church in Jabalpur’s Hawa Bagh district during a Christmas lunch for children. Bhargava reportedly accused Kartik of seeking to profit from religious conversions and declared she would be “blind in this life and the next.”
The bishops said: “In light of such egregious and dehumanizing conduct, the CBCI demands the immediate dismissal of Anju Bhargava from the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
Ratnesh Sonkar, the BJP’s Jabalpur city president, has reportedly asked Bhargava to explain her actions or face possible disciplinary action.
The BJP, a Hindu nationalist party founded in 1980, is the main partner in India’s current ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Supriya Shrinate, the national spokeswoman of the Indian National Congress, India’s other major political party, shared the video of Bhargava online with the comment: “This cruelty is the easiest way to advance in the BJP. These people are stains on society.”
The CBCI also condemned what it described as “the circulation of hate-filled digital posters” in Chhattisgarh, another central Indian state. It said the posters called for a Dec. 24 protest against Christians. The bishops said the protest, in the form of a bandh, or general strike, could “inflame tensions and incite further violence.”
The CBCI also highlighted recent attacks on “peaceful carol singers and congregations gathered in churches to pray,” saying they undermined “India’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and the right to live and worship without fear.”
The bishops did not specify the location of these incidents. But Indian media reported that a man was arrested Dec. 21 for allegedly attacking a group of young carol singers in the Palakkad district, in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The media said the accused was linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an influential umbrella body for Hindu nationalists.
The CBCI condemned the recent incidents “in the strongest possible terms,” urging both state governments and national authorities to take “urgent, visible action against all individuals and organisations spreading hatred and violence.”
The bishops called on Amit Shah, India’s Minister of Home Affairs, to ensure Christians across the country receive “proactive protection” as they celebrate Christmas.
Around 2% of India’s roughly 1.4 billion population are Christian, while 80% are adherents of Hinduism. The dominant political ideology in India is known as Hindutva, or “Hindu-ness.” It insists that India is a Hindu nation and presents religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians as potential threats to the country’s identity.
Human rights activists have accused the BJP of tacitly permitting violations of religious minority rights since its rise to power in 2014. But in recent years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cultivated ties with Catholic leaders and the BJP has reached out to Christians in Kerala, where they are influential voters.
The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need said in its “Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025” that anti-Christian persecution is increasing in India, the world’s most populous country.
The report concluded that “the rising level of restrictions on Christians and other non-Hindu religious minorities, accompanied by religiously motivated violence, impunity, intimidation, and growing restrictions on the freedom of individuals to practise a religion of their choice, is deeply disconcerting.”