Though religiously-motivated violence has existed for years in India, evidence suggests Hindu extremists have created an environment of hate and intolerance toward minority religions in the recent years, primarily against Christians and Muslims. This environment has seen an escalation of violence, social ostracism, property destruction, hate speech, disruption and condemnation of peaceful non-Hindu religious activities, and false accusations of “conversion” activities. On 20 August 2020, the World Evangelical Alliance and the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India submitted to the Human Rights Council’s 45th session (14 September – 6 October 2020) the following written statement, addressing this situation and recent developments in India, under Agenda item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention.
