The Legislative Council of the State of Karnataka, India, recently passed an anti-conversion bill. Last December, the Legislative Assembly passed the bill and it was recently moved to the upper house where it was approved.
“The reality of these anti-conversion laws is that they continue to make life difficult for Christians and other religious minorities throughout India. We’ve seen a dramatic rise in persecution because of these laws as they only embolden fanatical Hindu nationalists to run with complete impunity against Christians. It seems that Prime Minister Modi and the BJP will stop at nothing to suppress the freedom of religion in India,” said Matias Perttula, the Director of Advocay.
The stark reality of this rise came in the context of COVID-19 restrictions. Even with the limited mobility of people throughout the state, persecution cases increased.
Modi’s BJP is the political arm of the fanatical organization RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). This paramilitary organization works in India and globally to catalyze Hindu extremism in and rally support for their extremist Hindu nationalist ideology.
The BJP argues that the anti-conversion laws protect citizens from allurement and false conversions, but they only propel the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim sentiments already ravaging India’s cultural and societal fabric.