while calling for destroying churches. Publicly available body of evidence

1) Fundraiser held on Nov. 27, 2022 solicits donations for (a) destruction of churches (b) ghar wapasi

India has seen many attacks against Christians, Muslims, Sikh, and Dalits (the lowest of the Hindu class hierarchy, previously referred to as untouchables).

Destroying churches: Hindus allege that any prayer gatherings in homes constitute a church or mosque, and often attack these. Several pastors have faced attacks. While there are uncountable Hindu temples, mosques and churches are targeted for conversion to temples. The term illegal is often used as a smokescreen and the current state of the judiciary, being compromised, leans in favor of the majority Hindu community. While mosques are the primary target of extremist Hindu mobs, this group seems to concentrate against Christian minorities.

Ghar Wapasi: Literally, (a) Return Home, refers to re-converting Christians to Hinduism. Often these are coerced financially or by threat of violence. Hindu extremists use a debunked theory that Hindus had been mass converted to Christianity by violent and coercive means. (See Dalit note at end).

The Federation of Indian Christians of N America have documented several instances where churches were attacked by mobs aligned with Indian PM Modi. (http://www.fiacona.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/06/FIACONA_PaperbackKDP.pdf)

The US State Dept report on religious freedoms documents attacks on Christians and churches. (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/india/)

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended India as a Country of Particular Concern because of the many attacks on minorities and their places of worship. (https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2022%20Annual%20Report.pdf)

There are several other news & research reports on attacks against Christians. Calling for demolishing Churches leads to attacks against people. And just as the Supreme court of India gave the Babri masjid to the very same people that it declared had illegally destroyed it, Indian minorities can no longer rely on the judiciary as an impartial body. https://www.rvasia.org/church-asia/300-attacks-christians-9-months-fact-finding-report.

2) Advocating for assassins Nathuram Godse was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of Modi’s political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was Gandhi’s assassin. The GHHF has advocated for him being declared as a hero. https://www.worldhindunews.com/ghhf-suggestions-to-revise-educational-curriculum-fordifferent-class-levels-in-schools-in-bharat/

3) Abetting attacks using conspiracy theories and hate-building Additionally the website (https://www.savetemples.org) as well as the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066905531917) show the inclination of the GHHF to refer to debunked conspiracy theories of mass converting Hindus to Islam or Christianity, as well as a false historical narrative to that effect. The simple fact that India is a 80% Hindu nation today disproves any such mass conversions having happened in the past.

Who are the Dalits?:  Many of India’s Muslims and Christians belonged to the Dalit (untouchables) of Hindu society. Escaping the caste hierarchy of Hinduism, they chose classless Islam and Christianity as adopted religions. Even today, Dalits are often mistreated by higher caste Hindus and several Dalit girls are raped and killed. The perpetrators often go scot-free. The International Commission of Dalit Rights (https://www.icdrintl.org), Human Rights Watch and other organizations have documented this.

This story was originally published in justiceforall.org