Originally published June 21, 2023 6:00 pm PDT
After the slaughter of nearly 140 Christians over the past few weeks in India, President Biden is being urged to confront the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
QUICK FACTS:
- Amid the murder of nearly 140 Christians in India recently, Biden has been asked to confront Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue at an upcoming White House Dinner.
- “We have asked the president to discuss this dire situation with Mr. Modi. We have reminded the president about the recommendation made by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to put India on the list of Countries of Particular Concern for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. To date, the State Department has not implemented that recommendation,” the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said in a report.
- According to the ACLJ, “violent Hindu mobs” have been attacking believers and murdering them, destroying homes and churches.
- “Despite the severe persecution of Christians and other minorities in India, the United States continues to support India economically and militarily,” the ACLJ added.
- “Our letter to President Biden, which we also sent to Secretary of State Blinken, also provides a detailed memo showing numerous instances, evidence, and examples of the persecution of Christians that is commonplace in India. We will continue to fight for these suffering Christians through advocacy on Capitol Hill and at the U.N.”
AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE ON THE URGENCY FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN TO SPEAK WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI:
“Our request that President Biden discuss these issues with Prime Minister Modi is vitally important because Mr. Modi is in a key position to stop the violence but has so far done nothing,” the ACLJ said.
BACKGROUND:
- In April 2023, Christian leaders in Israel explained that Christians are increasingly being persecuted, assaulted, and spat at in the Holy Land.
- Videos emerged of Israeli occupation forces assaulting Christians.
- According to The Associated Press, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land, claimed the “frequency of these attacks, the aggressions, has become something new.
- It has been documented there have been at least seven serious cases of vandalism of church properties from January to mid-March—a sharp increase from six anti-Christian cases recorded in all of 2022.
- Church leaders blame Israeli extremists for most of the incidents, and say they fear an even greater surge.
- “This escalation will bring more and more violence,” Pizzaballa said. “It will create a situation that will be very difficult to correct.”
