Two more priests beaten. An escalation of violence in India where the Church’s message is increasingly less tolerated by nationalists because it undermines the caste system.

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Persecutions suffered in many Arab countries are not enough.

In 2024 in India 640 cases of violence or discrimination against Christians were documented, a number rising compared to 2023 (601 cases) and much higher than the figures from 2014 (147 cases).

We are witnessing an escalation of violence in the Hindu state with few precedents: there are reports of harassment, threats, physical assaults, property damage, vandalism, disruption of religious services, arrests of priests or faithful accused of forced conversion.

Two months ago we reported the harsh tightening of the laws for those who convert a Hindu, with prison sentences from three years to life imprisonment and very heavy fines.

 

India, Catholic priests targeted

Catholic priests are often the main targets, as happened on October 1 at St. Joseph’s Church in Tumdegi in the state of Jharkhand.

Father Dean Thomas Soreng and the deputy vicar, Father Emmanuel Baghwar, were kidnapped and savagely beaten by 12 attackers armed with sticks who broke into the church.

Both priests suffered serious injuries and were immediately taken to a health center; fortunately they recovered and were able to return to the parish house.

Authorities initially spoke of a robbery but the vicar general of the diocese of Simdega, Father Ignatius Tete, replied that the dynamics do not match theft.

“If their only purpose was to steal”, said the vicar general, “why did they beat our priests in that way? They tied them up, mocked and humiliated them brutally. There is a hidden plan behind these attacks.”

 

The Church and the Hindu caste system

Father Tete explained that the main beneficiaries of the Church’s projects in India, such as schools, hospitals and assistance centers, are not Christians but the Hindu population.

“This generates hostility towards us, because for the Catholic Church we are all children of God, equal in dignity, and we offer the same opportunities to everyone, regardless of caste or belief,” he explained.

That is precisely the point. The Church and Indian bishops are gradually undermining the caste system on which Hinduism is based.

A rigid and hierarchical subdivision that determines each individual’s position in society from birth, justified by the Hindu religion on the basis of a cosmic order (the dharma), according to which each person would be born into a certain caste based on the karma accumulated in previous lives.

Since 2014, with the rise to power of Narendra Modi at the head of a Hindu nationalist government, Christians (and also Muslims) have seen an increase in attacks and restrictions. Many analysts define this trend as the “saffronisation” of India, referring to the traditional color of the robes worn by Hindu sages and to the imposition of a Hindu identity on the country.

 

Nationalists and accusations of forced conversions

A telling case concerns the State of Chhattisgarh, where in July 2025 two Catholic nuns from Kerala were arrested on charges of forced religious conversion and trafficking.

A Wikipedia page (not updated) has even arisen about the affair, which explains that the arrest was prompted by the nationalist organization Bajrang Dal. On July 31, one of the alleged victims of forced conversion had the courage to confess that she had been forced to lie precisely by the Hindu group.

Having become a political case between majority and opposition, the nuns were released on August 1.

Unfortunately these are no longer isolated cases; intolerance is growing and it is now urgent that the leaders of Hinduism come to terms with the high number of extremists and nationalists who not only put religious freedom at risk but also seriously damage the image of their own religion.