US Report Cites Escalating Attacks on Religious Minorities in India

In its 2023 religious freedom report, the US State Department has highlighted a concerning rise in violent attacks against religious minority groups, particularly Muslims and Christians, in India, TRT World reported yesterday.

The report noted numerous incidents of killings, assaults, and vandalism targeting houses of worship under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country is seeing “a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of homes and places of worship” for minority faith communities.

The report documented dozens of specific cases, including the fatal shooting of a security official and three Muslims on a train near Mumbai by a railway employee. It also cited attacks on Muslims accused of cow slaughter or beef trading, as well as the destruction of over 250 churches in the northeastern state of Manipur.

Advocacy groups have contested the Indian government’s claims that its policies benefit all citizens equally, pointing to anti-Muslim rhetoric, the revocation of Kashmir’s autonomy, and the demolition of Muslim properties. Christians and Muslims have also reported being arrested under laws banning forced conversions.

While the US typically treads carefully in its criticism of India due to strategic ties, Blinken’s direct rebuke signals growing international concern over the country’s worsening religious intolerance under Modi’s Hindu nationalist rule. Minority rights advocates warn that the world’s largest democracy is seeing a deeply troubling erosion of its secular foundations.