This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Persecution of Christians is common from Islamists, those who take the Quran's instructions at face value and try to kill the "believers."
It's found routinely across the Middle East and North Africa, where Muslims often are the majority of the population.
But now there's a new threat to those who follow the Bible: In India, where Hindus repeatedly have launched violent attacks.
A report from the American Center for Law and Justice describes the "disturbing escalation" in that activity against the minority Christians, who make up only 2.3% of the nation's 1.4 billion population.
The "increasing hostility and violence" is not just about intolerance; "it's about the fundamental human rights that are being violated every day," the report said.
Last year, the United Christian Forum, which focuses on human rights, confirmed 834 instances of violence against Christians in India, up from 601 the year before.
"Sadly, these numbers do not include the instances that remain unreported," the report noted, but they are a dramatic surge from the 150 such incidents documented in 2014.
The violence includes physical assaults, sexual assaults, and even murder.
The report said the explosion of anti-Christian violence has coincided with the surging influence of Hindu national groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party political ideologies.
Those groups, both of which confirm Narendra Modi. the prime minister, as a member, "have been accused of inciting violence and exploiting communal tensions for political gain, as they shamefully portray Christians as a threat to Hindu culture and society," the ACLJ reported.
The report noted Modi joined the RSS during his youth and it has influenced his politics, as he has maintained ties even as prime minister.
He also held various titles with the BJP.
The report warned, "One of the most troubling ways the government achieves its Hindu nationalism agenda is the use of anti-conversion laws. These laws, enacted in several states under the BJP's rule, are ostensibly designed to prevent forced conversions. However, they are often used to target Christians, criminalizing legitimate religious activities and leading to the arrest and harassment of clergy members and other Christians."
The agenda also includes denying Christians access to government programs given to Hindus.
The ACLJ warned, "The involvement of the BJP and RSS in the persecution of Christians is well-documented. The RSS, as the ideological mentor of the BJP, has been accused of inciting violence against Christians and other religious minorities. In October 2021, Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the RSS, made a speech warning Hindus about religious conversions and alleged 'demographic changes' in India's northeastern states that have a large Christian population. This speech was followed by a series of violent attacks on Christians and churches across India."
