A 5 March 2002 article reporting on communal violence in Gujarat noted that it was not only Muslims who were being attacked, but Christians as well (The Asian Age). The article stated that "in recent days, several cases of violence against Christians have been reported in Gujarat" (ibid.). Reportedly, a Christian mission in Sanjeli was ransacked and burned by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on 2 March 2002 (ibid.). As well, the Indian Missionary Society compound in Dhudia was ransacked, clergy members were attacked, and students and faculty at the Mahatama Gandhi School run by the Catholic Mission were harassed by youth under the leadership of an RSS activist (ibid.).

An 18 February 2002 article reported that police had arrested nine "Hindu extremists" for a 17 February 2002 attack on a Catholic church near Mysore city in southern Karnataka state that left several worshippers injured (AP). Reportedly, some 50 (AP 17 Feb. 2002) to 70 men entered Holy Family Church shouting "anti-Christian" slogans and brandishing clubs and stones (HRWF 18 Feb. 2002). During the attack, the assailants reportedly demanded that the priest end efforts to convert local Hindu villagers (AP 18 Feb. 2002; ibid. 17 Feb. 2002).

A 6 December 2001 article published by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) refers to a November 2001 report released by the Indian government, which documents cases of "persecution" against Christians in India. According to the survey undertaken by the National Commission for Minorities, the number of attacks on Christians and Christian institutions rose steadily: in 1997, 27 attacks were reported; in 1998, the number climbed to 86; in 1999, 120 incidents were documented; and in 2000, there were 216 attacks (CBN 6 Dec. 2001). The article further stated that, according to the National Commission for Minorities, the "persecution" of Christians had increased since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 1998 (ibid.).

Several other articles also make reference to the increase in violence against Christians since the BJP came to power (AFP 25 Aug. 2000; ibid. 8 June 2000; AP 8 July 2000). A 13 October 2001 article stated that Christian groups had accused Hindu nationalists of staging a string of attacks "because they feel they will not be punished [since] the central government is led by a Hindu party" (AP). However, the article further reported that the government's investigations into attacks had led authorities to conclude that these acts were related to local land and property disputes (ibid.).

A 6 August 2001 article published by the South China Morning Post reported that, according to the All India Christian Council, an attack against Christians in India occurs every 36 hours. According to the council's spokesperson, it is the "sheer number that is disturbing and the fact that no one is ever punished for these attacks" (South China Morning Post 6 Aug. 2001).

A 17 October 2001 article reported that the Hindu extremist organization Sang Privar had circulated leaflets in Gujrat state denigrating Christian beliefs (Business Recorder). Reportedly, the text of the leaflet, which was mailed by anonymous senders to different Christian leaders and organizations, refers to a Christian "conspiracy to spread unrest in India" and efforts to "make India a Christian state" (ibid.).

A 13 October 2001 article reported that six Hindus had been arrested for "allegedly" assaulting a Christian family and a local pastor in Kudupalli, Orissa state (AP). Reportedly, the attackers accused the pastor of undertaking conversions (ibid.).

In the face of what was referred to as "mounting attacks by armed separatist rebels," Christian leaders in northeastern India were reported in a 31 May 2001 article to have asked for government protection for the "lives and property of religious minorities" (AP). Reportedly, three Roman Catholic priests were killed by militants in Manipur state and church organizations have faced extortion threats, the rebels demanding large sums of money as "taxes" (ibid.). The article further reported that a "leading Hindu monastic sect in the region has accused Christian missionaries of forcefully converting poor people to Christianity and aiding separatist insurgency in the region" (ibid.).

Bombs were reportedly set off on 8 May 2001 in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Muzaffarpur, Bihar state (HRWF 11 May 2001). A note found at the scene purportedly indicated that Hindu extremists had planted the bombs because they were concerned over the number of tribals converting to Christianity in the neighbouring district of Patna (ibid.). The note reportedly read "[s]top conversions under the pretext of social service. India is a Hindu rashtra (nation). Christians leave India" (ibid.).

As reported in a 6 January 2001 article, the All India Christian Council alleged that two priests and "their Christian followers" were beaten up and the house of one of the priests was ransacked in Jehar village, Rajasthan (The Hindu). Purportedly, the attackers were members of Bajrang Dal (ibid.).

In another incident, a 25 August 2000 article reported that a Christian priest had been beaten up and forced to walk naked through the town of Surendranagar, Gujarat (AFP). Reportedly, the priest had been distributing religious pamphlets in the town when the perpetrators apprehended him (ibid.). As well, a 29 July 2000 article reported that a local church leader in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, had been killed by three unidentified men (BBC).

An 18 July 2000 Christian Science Monitor article reported that attacks against Christians in India had continued in July. The article reported that since 1 July 2000, ten cases of bombings, beatings, or "hate crimes" had been reported and that 44 cases of violence, including the killing of four church officials, had occurred since January 2000 (Christian Science Monitor 18 July 2000). As examples of incidents which took place in July, the article reported the 12 July 2000 shooting of the headmaster of a Roman Catholic school in Bihar, the 11 July 2000 assault of a nun and a priest in Gujurat, the 9 July 2000 bomb explosion outside of a church in Bangalore, and a similar bombing of a Lutheran Church in Bangalore on 8 July 2000 (ibid.). The article reported that the central government had stated that the recent church bombings in south India were linked to an Islamic group, Deendar Anuman (ibid.). The ruling BJP reportedly further asked for an apology from Indian Christians for blaming Hindu groups for the attacks (ibid.).

A 14 July 2000 article reported that a group of unidentified people had broken into a missionary school in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh on 3 July 2000, reportedly in an attempted robbery (India Abroad). In an unrelated incident, alleged members of the Bajrang Dal forcibly entered a school run by missionaries in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and tried to "coerce" the students into participating in a Hindu religious procession (ibid.).

A 7 July 2000 article reported that a church had been ransacked in Maharashtra and two graves damaged in a cemetery in Andhra Pradesh in what the article described as "renewed attacks against the minority Christian community" in India (India Abroad).

Three people were reported to have been injured in 8 June 2000 bomb explosions at four churches in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa (AFP 8 June 2000). Thirty people were reported injured in another bombing incident, which took place in May 2000 during a Christian religious meeting in Machlipatnam, Andhra Pradesh (BBC 22 May 2000). According to the report, five suspects were detained for questioning (ibid.).

In what was described as the eighth attack against Christians in the state in recent weeks, an April 2000 article reported that supporters of the Bajrang Dal had attacked a group of visiting Christians in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (Dawn 24 Apr. 2000). Reportedly, the attack, which occurred on 22 May 2000, was motivated by the belief that the Christians were converting Hindus in the town (ibid.).

A 5 November 1999 BBC article reported that tensions between converted Christians and non-Christians were "acute in India's less developed states - such as Bihar and Orissa - where the Christianisation of the tribal community is resented by many Hindu groups."

For further information on the treatment of Christians by Hindus, please refer to IND38143.E of 14 December 2001. Please also refer to the October 1999 Human Rights Watch report entitled Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India available in Regional Documentation Centres. As well, the India Country Report produced by the International Christian Concern, available at http://www.persecution.org/humanrights/india.html, may also be of interest.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 25 August 2000. "Christian Priest Stripped and Beaten in Western India." (NEXIS)

_____. 8 June 2000. "Four Churches Bombed in Southern India, Three Injured." (NEXIS)

The Asian Age. 5 March 2002. "India: Christians Face Communal Wrath in Gujarat, Missions Attacked." (FBIS-NES-2002-0305 5 Mar. 2002/WNC)

Associated Press (AP). 18 February 2002. "Indian Police Arrest Nine Hindu Extremists for Attack on Catholic Church." (NEXIS)

_____. 17 February 2002. "Suspected Hindu Extremists Attack Christians in India." (NEXIS)

_____. 13 October 2001. "Six Hindus Arrested for Attack on Christian Family in Eastern State of Orissa." (NEXIS)

_____. 31 May 2001. Wasbir Hussain. "Christian Churches in India's Rebel-Infested Northeast Seek Protection." (NEXIS)

_____. 8 July 2000. "Blast Damages Church in Southern India." (NEXIS)

BBC. 29 July 2000. Mike Wooldridge. "Priest Killed in India." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/857722.stm [Accessed 10 Sept. 2002]

_____. 22 May 2000. Omer Farooq. "Christians Attacked in South India." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/759221.stm [Accessed 9 Sept. 2002]

_____. 5 November 1999. Alastair Lawson. "Analysis: Christians in India." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/505201.stm [Accessed 9 Sept. 2002]

Business Recorder. 17 October 2001. "Hindu Extremists Once Again Threaten Christians in India." (NEXIS)

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). 6 December 2001. George Thomas. "Persecution of Christians on Rise in India." http://cbn.org/CBNNews/news/011206b.asp [Accessed 9 Sept. 2002]

The Christian Science Monitor. 18 July 2000. Robert Marquand. "Christians Still Targets in India." (NEXIS)

Dawn [Karachi]. 24 April 2000. "Christians Attacked in Agra, Haryana." http://www.dawn.com [Accessed dated 24 Apr. 2000]

The Hindu. 6 January 2001. "India: 'Christian Gathering Attacked, Priest Missing.'" (NEXIS)

Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF). 18 February 2002. "Hindu Extremists Attack Catholic Church: 4-Year-Old Among the 7 Injured in Sunday Assault." http://www.hrwf.net [Accessed 19 Feb. 2002]

_____. 14 May 2001. Abhijeet Prabhu. "Cathedral Bombed by Suspected Hindu Militants." http://www.hrwf.net [Accessed 14 May 2001]

India Abroad. 14 July 2000. "Attacks on Christian Community Continue." http://www.indiaabroadonline.com/ [Accessed 14 July 2000]

_____. 7 July 2000. "India: Renewed Attacks Against Christian Community." http://www.indiaabroadonline.com/ [Accessed 7 July 2000]

South China Morning Post. 6 August 2001. Amrit Dhillon. "Delhi Accused of Turning Blind Eye as Christian Church Comes Under Attack." (NEXIS)