Religion-based crimes have risen sharply in India. Does Modi love hate?
- Violence against Muslims, Christians and those who consume or transport beef has spiked some 400 per cent under the Modi administration
- As India goes to the polls from 11 April to 19 May, there are worries over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s mixing of religion and politics that has polarised society
Two days before Christmas 2018, when 70 members of the New Life Fellowship Church in the tiny Hindu-dominated village of Kowad were happily rehearsing performances, they had no idea their celebrations would be cut short by bloodshed.
That was the day a mob of 15 people – armed with knives, sticks, bottles and stones – launched a sudden attack on the church, which is located on the border of the Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The episode left seven worshippers severely injured while others escaped with minor wounds. Victims included women and children, and but the damage wasn’t just physical – months later the emotional toll is still apparent.
“Christians in the area are now terrified and hesitant to hold prayers. People are worshipping in their houses. But we’re determined to continue our work here. We may not have public gatherings in the near future but will conduct prayers individually in our houses,” Mohan Naik, the pastor in charge of churches in the district, told the Post.
The tracker began recording these incidents in 2009; from then until 2013, the number of hate crimes every year were still in the single digits. But there were 92 incidents in 2018 alone, a 400 per cent increase from 2014 and the highest number in a decade. Notably, 66 per cent of these crimes occurred in states governed by Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to Hate Crime Watch, an overwhelming majority of victims were religious minorities – Muslims, Christians and Dalits – while more than half of the perpetrators were Hindu radicals. Three-quarters of the victims of all hate crimes in the past 10 years are Muslims – India’s largest minority – and 90 per cent of these crimes took place during Modi’s tenure.