A state visit to Washington D.C. last week prompted an outcry against India’s human rights record by International religious freedom advocates on behalf of persecuted religious minorities.

Violence against Christians and other religious minorities in India has escalated over recent years, with dramatic upticks in 2022 and 2023, most recently in the northeast state of Manipur. Laws and policies at the national and state level severely hinder and restrict the liberties of minority religious groups in India, allowing for the harassment and targeted discrimination of minority religious groups by radical mobs throughout the country.

“What we are seeing in India is a religious freedom crisis,” said Sean Nelson, legal counsel for Global Religious Freedom for ADF International as Indian PM Narendra Modi visited the White House and the US Congress.

“Christians and other religious minorities are systemically targeted in India by radical Hindu nationalist mobs, who carry out widespread violence and harassment with impunity. No person should be persecuted, harassed, or killed for simply living out their faith. The government of India should work to put an end to the violence and reform any laws that restrict freedom of religion and implicitly encourage such violence. President Biden and other world leaders should speak clearly about the deteriorating religious freedom conditions in India and encourage the Indian government to work to reverse this trend”.