ISLAMABAD: PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman on Saturday expressed grave concern over the continued silence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on violence carried out by Hindu radical groups against religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims.
Just before December 25, mobs armed with wooden sticks vandalised Christmas decorations at a shopping mall in central India, while right-wing groups disrupted school celebrations and burned holiday merchandise in the northeast, according to Indian media. The incidents occurred in the states of Chhattisgarh, Assam, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh ahead of the holiday.
“What stops Prime Minister Modi from condemning the actions of Hindu radicals who attack Christians — as we all do in Pakistan — from clearly stating that such violence is unacceptable in a civilised country?” Senator Rehman asked. “I think we know the answer, he is okay with impunity.”
She underscored that leadership is ultimately tested by its willingness to confront extremism within its own support base. Silence, she warned, risks signalling tolerance for impunity and normalising hate-driven violence.
Her remarks align with a piece published by The Wall Street Journal, which has documented a significant rise in violence against religious minorities in India since Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014.
According to the article, groups aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been implicated in attacks against Muslims and Christians, alongside systemic discrimination in employment, education, housing, and access to civic participation.
According to the WSJ, India’s Muslim community — approximately 14 per cent of the population — has borne the brunt of the most severe attacks, facing widespread social exclusion and ghettoisation.
Christians, who comprise just a meagre 2.3pc of the population and largely belong to economically marginalised communities, have also increasingly been targeted.
WSJ noted that radical Hindu groups remain fixated on what they describe as the “threat” of Christian conversion, despite the Christian community’s small size and with 80pc of India’s population being Hindus.
The paper further highlighted that at least 12 Indian states have enacted laws prohibiting religious conversion by “force, fraud, or allurement,” with “allurement” often interpreted so broadly that even peaceful evangelical activity is criminalised. Violence against Christians is frequently justified under the pretext of enforcing these laws.
Senator Rehman emphasised that the protection of religious freedom and minority rights is not a regional or partisan issue but a universal democratic obligation.
“Condemning extremism should never be selective,” she stated. “A civilised nation is defined not by the power of its majority, but by how it protects its most vulnerable citizens.”
She asserted that a democratic country should unequivocally denounce hate-based violence, uphold constitutional protections for all faiths, and ensure accountability for those who incite or carry out attacks in the name of religion.
