North East Catholic Research Forum Appeals to PM on Rising Violence Against Christians

North-East, Dec 30, 2025: Raising serious concerns, the North East Catholic Research Forum has submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a sharp rise in attacks against Christians across India, particularly during the recent Christmas season. Submitted on December 29, 2025, the appeal calls for urgent intervention to address incidents of violence, intimidation, and restrictions faced by the Christian community, despite what the Forum described as strong constitutional safeguards guaranteeing religious freedom.

In the memorandum, the Forum acknowledged and appreciated the Prime Minister’s outreach to the Christian community in recent years, including his participation in Easter celebrations at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi in 2023, Christmas celebrations with the Catholic Bishops Conference of India in 2024, and his attendance at a Christmas service at the Cathedral Church of Redemption on December 25 this year. These gestures, the memorandum stated, were positively received by Christians across the country and reflected the spirit of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas.”

Despite these gestures, the memorandum expressed “deep anguish” over what it said was the continued treatment of Christians as adversaries, citing a sharp increase in violent incidents. According to the document, 834 incidents of attacks on Christians were recorded in 2024, averaging 69 incidents per month. Between January and November 2025, 706 incidents were reported, including physical attacks, sexual offences, murder, threats, intimidation, destruction of places of worship, disruption of prayer services, and desecration of religious items. The memorandum named the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal as the “chief architects” of these incidents.

The Forum further alleged that organisations linked to the RSS had used front organisations to target Christians, not only restricting religious activities but also services to humanity. It detailed a series of incidents leading up to and during Christmas 2025, including disruptions of prayer services, vandalism of churches and schools, physical assault, harassment of women and children, desecration of religious symbols, and intimidation of Christian communities in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Kerala.

Specific incidents cited included the alleged assault of a visually impaired woman at a church in Jabalpur on December 20, the disruption of a Christmas prayer service in Ghaziabad on December 21, harassment of girls wearing Santa Claus caps in Delhi on December 22, vandalism of Christmas decorations in Raipur on December 24, and the destruction of a nativity crib at a school in Assam on the same day. The memorandum also referred to government circulars issued in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that it said restricted Christmas-related activities in schools.

Stating that these were not isolated incidents but “well-planned and systematically executed” actions, the North East Catholic Research Forum questioned what had emboldened such groups to act with impunity. The Forum appealed to the Prime Minister for urgent intervention, expressing confidence that a clear word of disapproval from him could change the situation. It also urged the Centre to direct states to refrain from misusing anti-conversion laws against what it described as poor, innocent, and helpless members of the Christian community.

By Catholic Connect Reporter