Christian Indians face persecution

 Christian Indians face persecution

A wave of anti-Christian violence has swept through villages in India, with groups burning Christian literature, attacking schools and assaulting worshipers.

Laws have helped them along, like a recent one that targets religious conversions with up to 10 years in prison. The police and members of India’s governing party have helped them as well, government documents and dozens of interviews revealed. A white-collar army of lawyers and clerks has filed legal complaints against Christian organizations.

In many churches, the act of going to pray can be dangerous. Some groups have broadly felt less safe in India in recent years, amid growing Hindu nationalist sentiment fanned by politicians.

Secret worship: In some areas of northern and central India, where evangelicals are making inroads among lower-caste Hindus, people are holding clandestine ceremonies at night, conducting secret baptisms and passing out small audio Bibles.

Quotable: “I just don’t get it,” said Abhishek Ninama, a Christian farmer, who stared dejectedly at a rural church stomped apart this year. “What is it that we do that makes them hate us so much?”