Indeed, Syrian Christians in Kerala believe that the Apostle Thomas—the one who famously questioned Jesus—visited the Kerala coast in AD 52 and baptised their forefathers. Historians have speculated that the diverse, and rich trading centres in Kerala might have drawn this Palestinian Jew of the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel and set up one of the oldest churches in India at Kodungallur.Dr Mathai adds, “the western world got the Gospel several centuries later and became Christian nations. Christian missionaries in India on the other hand focused more on health, education and social justice” to explain why the Christian population in the country has remained by and large static at around two percent. He claims that the Christian community runs more than 1,24,000 educational institutions, a majority of them in rural areas, and 40% of the country’s healthcare institutions for the poor. But there is no mistaking the dog whistles and the rising number of attacks on Christians.Media reports from across India suggest that Christians have been barred from using community wells, from visiting non-Christian homes and from even celebrating Christmas. Leaked documents have shown that in districts the police stations have been asked to monitor ‘suspicious activities’ of Christian priests.Rabid Hindu organisations have called for ‘Chadar-mukt and Father-mukt Bharat’ while priests have prescribed ‘beheading’ for the crime of conversion. In a report Al Jazeera recorded chilling details of an attack in Roorkee. “Pearl Lance, the daughter of the church’s pastor, was allegedly molested by men, abused and attacked by women, and her phone snatched. Rajat Kumar, a staff member at the church, was hit with iron rods on his head, resulting in serious injuries,” the news outlet reported.Addressing an anti-conversion rally in Madhya Pradesh, far-right leaders exhorted people to arm themselves with axes in order to “Roko-Toko-Thoko” (stop, warn and assault) people engaged in conversion. Church services have been disrupted by vigilante groups who have engaged in singing ‘bhajans’. ‘Friendly warnings’ were given to Christians in Karnataka to stop going to Churches till the assembly session got over.People returning from a Sunday Mass in Karnataka’s Hosadurga taluka of Chitradurga district on December 19 spotted local MLA Goolihatti D. Shekhar from the BJP waiting outside the church in a car. Shekhar was video recording responses of church-goers to his queries.In a 2:26 minute video, the MLA is seen stopping a woman outside Calvary Bethel Church and ask: “Where do you stay? How long have you been visiting the church?”The video was ostensibly recorded three days before the BJP government in the state tabled the controversial Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021. It is the ninth state to have introduced a legislation to penalise forcible conversions.Even before the BJP government tabled the Bill in the Karnataka legislature, opposition parties —the Congress and JD(S)—and various organisations were up in arms that it was against the Constitution which guaranteed the right to freedom of religion under Article 25 and has been brought solely to target the Christian community.“There have been 39 incidents of attacks on members of the Christian community from January to November 2021 without a law. If the anti-conversion legislation becomes a law, everyone will be walking with this license as marshals. The Christian community will constantly be under the CCTV scanner,” fumed Bengaluru Archbishop Peter Machado.A report brought out by the Karnataka People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) earlier this month titled ‘Hate crimes on Christians in Karnataka’ noted, “The targeting of the Christian community is not a new phenomenon. When we look back, in 2008 when the BJP was in power, there were attacks on several churches in different parts of Karnataka, such as Chikkamagaluru, Udupi, Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada. Similar patterns can be observed in 2021.” National and Karnataka state trends, the report pointed out, however show a steady decline in the population of Christians in the last five decades.The Karnataka legislation was triggered by a letter from the Karnataka Directorate of Minorities on July 7, 2021, to all district headquarters to conduct a survey of churches along with details of the pastors. This was followed by BJP MLA Shekhar raising the issue in the Assembly in September and allege that rampant conversions were happening in his constituency and that his own mother, who had health issues was also converted with the promise that she would be healed. His mother had a “Ghar Wapasi” and returned to Hinduism a month later.Since then, the government was hinting at legislation to prohibit conversions by allurements such as promises of free education, free medical treatment, free jobs and marriage. No data, however, have been shared with the public so far.
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