India: Hindu Extremists Drive 50 Christian Farmers Off Their Land
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The International Christian Concern (ICC) aid and advocacy organization reported last week that its staff recently witnessed an attack on Christians in Chhattisgarh state in which Hindu extremists drove a community of 50 farmers and their families off their land.
Published on April 4, the ICC report on what happened to the Chhattisgarh farmers is part of the organization’s long-term coverage of the intensifying persecution of Christians in India by Hindu extremists. “As farmers who live off of the land, this loss was devastating,” ICC noted in its report.
“For years, we have seen a steady rise in persecution in India,” ICC said. “While the attacks often target pastors and other Christian leaders, there has also been a rise in attacks against average Christian villagers.” ICC has provided the Chhattisgarh Christian farmers with seeds and fertilizers so they can begin again, the report said.
“Christians around the nation of India find themselves increasingly under threat,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains in a current website statement. “This hostility is often driven by an ongoing belief among some Hindu extremists that Indians ought to be Hindu—and any faith outside of Hinduism is not welcome in India. This mindset has led to violent attacks across the country and impunity for the people who perpetrate this violence, especially in places where the authorities are also Hindu hardliners.”
India has been ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for nearly two decades and now ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List (WWL) 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. Prior to the BJP’s ascension to power in 2014, India had ranked 31 on the WWL.
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