Deepika Editorial Condemns Attacks on Christians, Questions PM Modi’s Silence

Thiruvananthapuram: The Catholic Church’s official daily Deepika has sharply criticised the continuing attacks on Christians by Sangh Parivar groups across the country and what it described as the “silent endorsement” of such violence by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders. In its editorial, Deepika said the communal attacks unleashed during Christmas are a direct assault on the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and minority rights.

The editorial noted that attacks on minorities, including Christians, are not new during the BJP’s 11 years in power. It pointed out the contradiction in the Prime Minister attending Christmas prayers inside churches—ostensibly to project an image to foreign dignitaries—while Hindutva extremist groups vandalised Christmas celebrations and carried out attacks against christian community.

Deepika wrote that Sangh Parivar outfits carried out attacks on Christians across the country this Christmas, including in the national capital and several BJP-ruled states, targeting both individuals and Christian institutions. Even Kerala witnessed attempts at provocation. In 2024 alone, 834 incidents of attacks against Christians were reported in India, with 706 incidents recorded up to November this year. Since the BJP came to power at the Centre, attacks against Christians have increased four- to five-fold in several states, the editorial said.

More than the aggression of Sangh Parivar groups, what frightens minorities most is the Prime Minister’s silence, Deepika observed. It alleged that not only extremist organisations but BJP governments themselves have undermined the Constitution. In Uttar Pradesh, Christmas holidays were cancelled, while in Chhattisgarh, the Hindu Seva Samaj called a bandh on Christmas Eve under the pretext of opposing religious conversions. In Kerala, Christmas was declared a working day at Loka Bhavan.

The editorial said most attacks are justified by allegations of religious conversion, while at the same time there is no obstacle to Hindutva-led conversions carried out under the euphemism of “ghar wapsi”. It remarked that many national BJP leaders were educated in the “schools” of the people they accuse of conversions, though they neither changed their religion or were forced to. The term “crypto-Christians”, it said, is a new weapon used by those who refuse to see Christians as equal citizens—even during Christmas—and asked whether Christians who voted for the BJP would also be labelled as such.

Deepika said merely filing complaints to BJP governments would not resolve the issue and urged approaching the courts. It called for a mechanism to coordinate legal action at the national level. Referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent statement that India is a Hindu Rashtra and does not require a constitutional amendment for it, the editorial warned of the growing danger.

To counter this increasingly toxic situation, Deepika said secular parties must evolve timely and effective strategies. It added that communal polarisation is used by parties that lack development agendas or self-confidence, and called for united action to drive out communalism and extremism.