India: ‘Chilling effect’ on believers

Persecution against Christians continues to increase in India, with new research highlighting a 16.7% growth in hostile incidents last year.

New findings released by the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFIRLC) revealed that 747 incidents of discrimination against believers were reported during 2025, up from 640 the previous year, marking a concerning upward trend which continues to worsen.

Over 915 cases were reported in total, but just 747 were officially recorded after passing a verification process, while many cases go unreported for various reasons, including that some believers are fearful of the repercussions of making discrimination known.

The Hate and Targeted Violence Against Christians in India report, which is released annually by the EFI, revealed that threat and harassment are the most common forms of persecution, followed by physical violence and disruption of church events.

The most dangerous area for believers was found to be Uttar Pradesh, where 217 cases were recorded, followed by Chhattisgarh, but the report concluded that persecution was a nationwide problem and could not be attributed to geographic anomaly. It also noted that anti-conversion laws are driving increased oppression of Christians and that persecution often spikes around key points in the Christian calendar.

EFI General Secretary Vijayesh Lal told Morning Star News that the freedom of the nation’s Christians, believed to number almost 30 million, must be protected. He said: “What concerns us deeply is not only the scale of what we are documenting, but the chilling effect it produces in communities where believers now hesitate to gather for prayer or bury their dead without fear.

“We are not asking for privilege. We are asking for the equal protection of the law, and we urge the government at every level to ensure that all Indians, regardless of faith, can live and worship without intimidation.”