Vatican gets memorandum on ‘targeted violence’ against Christians in India
New Delhi: Civil society group in India has submitted a memorandum to the Vatican about the increase in “targeted violence and hostility” against Christians across India.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the memorandum was submitted by United Christian Forum and handed over to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, foreign minister of the Vatican, during his week-long visit to India. It urged Vatican’s foreign minister to raise the increase in attacks against the community during his talks with New Delhi.
The visit comes months after the United Christian Forum released a report on January 10, which said that the number of attacks against Christians had increased from 127 in 2014 to 834 in 2024.
In its memorandum submitted to Gallagher, the civil society group referred to the report on the rise in “incidents of violence and hostility towards Christians”, adding that the primary reason for these attacks has been false allegations of fraudulent conversions.
Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were the top two states where such allegations had led to “either attacks on people at prayer or their illegal arrest by the police”, the civil society group said citing its report.
“A large number of Catholic priests and nuns faced arrests, attacks, and legal actions in northern India,” the memorandum added.
