New Delhi (Monitoring Desk): Religious intolerance and hostility against minorities in India have significantly increased under the Hindutva ideology, severely undermining the country’s so-called secular character.
Extremist elements have continuously targeted the religious freedoms of Muslim and Christian communities, making India increasingly unsafe for minorities. In Delhi, Bajrang Dal activists reportedly prevented Christian women and children from celebrating religious festivals like Christmas and forcibly removed them from public spaces. According to Main Control, Bajrang Dal has a history of intimidating Christians during Christmas, with multiple similar incidents reported last year in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Haryana. In Mumbai, children were reportedly forced to recite the Hanuman Chalisa during Christmas celebrations.
The global magazine The Diplomat notes that since the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014, atrocities against minorities have increased markedly. Hindu extremist elements have propagated hateful narratives linking Muslim and Christian citizens to Arab or Palestinian states rather than recognizing them as Indian citizens.
Observers say that under the influence of Hindutva ideology, the religious freedoms of minorities in India are being systematically suppressed, posing a serious threat to social harmony and human rights in the region.
