Country Profile - India
Population: 1.2 billion
Capital: New Delhi
Government type: Federal republic
Religion: Hindu 73.9%; Muslim 12.2%; Christian 6.2%; Ethnoreligionist* 3.8%; Sikh 2.2%; Other 1.7%
History
The world’s largest democracy is also a volatile melting pot of communities, cultures, religions and castes - and conflict is never far from the surface.
Over the centuries, India has been occupied by many foreign armies, each leaving their own influences and religion. The Aryans brought Hinduism, the Persians imported Islam and Christianity spread under the British Raj.
After India won independence from Britain in 1947, tensions between Muslims and Hindus led to the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.
Today, India is mainly Hindu. Its constitution, however, makes it a secular nation which, on paper, provides religious freedom of worship and witness for all religions.
The reality is very different.
Religious context
Communal, regional and religious conflict is further aggravated by India's ancient caste system which accords everyone a fixed place in the social hierarchy.
Below the four main social strata is a fifth, occupied by a group known traditionally as 'the untouchables' but renamed the Dalits in the 1950s.
As the 'lowest of the low', these people live with discrimination and, generally, deep poverty.
In 1950, legislation was passed that guaranteed a certain quota of Dalits employment in social institutions. Excluded from this law was any Dalit converting to Islam or Christianity - and many have done just that.
What's more, Dalits and tribal groups who have embraced Christian teaching that all men are equal in God's sight have become vocal in demanding justice.
This has made them a target of the militant Hindu nationalists who have come to prominence in recent years.
Under the slogan 'one nation, one religion, one culture', these upper-caste Hindus are fiercely opposed to what are seen as 'foreign religions' such as Christianity.
Persecution
Hindu nationalists have been open and violent in opposing the church. Several pastors have been murdered, others beaten. Churches and their congregations have been attacked or threatened.
Groups such as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also used political means to try to stem the spread of religions such as Christianity.
Seven Indian states have now passed anti-conversion laws - though they are yet to be implemented in Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. This legislation imposes fines or imprisonment on anyone using force, inducement or 'any fraudulent means' to convert another - loosely defined terms wide open to abuse.
Christians say that the law is being used to curtail church activities, including social programmes. Church leaders are regularly attacked by Hindu extremists and then accused of 'forcible conversion'.
In 2008, Hindu extremists launched a campaign of anti-Christian violence in Orissa state, which left more than 100 Christians dead and more than 50,000 displaced. The attacks were allegedly in revenge for the murder of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati in Kandhamal district - even though Maoist insurgents claimed responsibility for his death.
Many extremists suspected of involvement in the Orissa attacks have been acquitted in court, prompting Christian leaders to accuse the authorities of failing to protect their communities and uphold religious freedoms.
Two years on, some Orissa Christians had still not been able to return to their homes, for fear of further attacks.
Release projects
Release projects in India include:
- Organising conferences to encourage and support persecuted pastors and church leaders
- Providing Bibles in different Indian languages
- Helping to support persecuted Christians from the Dalit community with a micro-enterprise project
Sources: BBC; Britannica Online Encyclopaedia; Charisma; International Christian Concern; Operation World; Release International; The World Factbook 2010; World Christian Database.
* Ethnoreligionist: followers of local, tribal, animistic, or shamanistic religions, with members restricted to one ethnic group
Updated January 2011