In the wake of a mass indictment of 42 people in India over charges of fraudulent conversion of members of poor and tribal communities to Christianity, a priest is warning that recent elections in several Indian states, which saw strong gains for the Hindu nationalist party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, may make the situation worse [1].
In effect, Father Anand Matthew suggested that in light of accelerating crackdowns under India’s anti-conversion law, Christianity in the country may need to return to the model of the early church of lay-led small Christian communities able to fly below the radar of government authorities.
“Anti-Christian intolerance and harassment has already been bad, and this victory doesn’t augur well for religious freedom in these states,” said Mathew, a prominent social activist and a member of the Indian Mission Society.