(ANS - Mumbai) - In 2014 five Christians, including a child of 11 years, were killed in India out of religious hatred. More than 300 priests, pastors and leaders of Christian communities were assaulted, beaten and injured. More than 2,000 Christian women and children were victims of violence by Hindu extremist groups. These are some of the figures contained in the Report on Persecution in 2014 by the Catholic Secular Forum.

The report, presented yesterday in Mumbai, offers a list "only indicative and not exhaustive", Joseph Dias, a lay Catholic, head of the Catholic Secular Forum, told the Agency Fides.

The publication noted that during the past year in India "at least one incident a day" was registered in which people, places or Christian leaders suffered violence. The states where abuses are most prevalent are Chhattisgarh, followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Paradeshm, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa, but other states of the Union are also involved to a lesser extent.

The episodes numbered in total more than 7,000, from the most serious (five murders) to those against more than 1,600 women, many molested and raped, and 500 children.

Among the causes and perpetrators of violence the report cites Hindu extremist groups like "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" (RSS, "National Volunteer Corps") which is the largest NGO in India. RSS is the promoter of a Hindu nationalist ideology that would eliminate religious minorities from the country. It is currently growing in numbers. In 2013 two thousand new sections and local cells of the RSS were formed. In 2014 there were more than 5,000 new groups, for a total of over 5 million active members. The RSS has also taken possession of 60 churches, desecrating them and turning them into their bases.

The document also raises the question of the complicity of the institutions: "Often the police refuse to record acts of anti-Christian violence as such and the mass media tend to ignore the abuses, not reporting the news." In other cases, the persecution does not come to light because the victims are afraid of being killed and consequently do not report the violence.

Finally, it should be noted that in the second half of 2014, radical groups like the RSS organized ghar Wapsi (return home) ceremonies for those who had embraced other faiths to reconvert to Hinduism, often by offering money. On 18 January in Lucknow, State of Uttar Pradesh, the leader of "Vishwa Hindu Parishad" (VHP), a Hindu nationalist group, called for a national law prohibiting conversion from Hinduism.

Published 22/01/2014