NEW DELHI, May 29: Hundreds of Indian Christians, some shouting `hallelujah’, held a noisy but peaceful protest in New Delhi on Tuesday demanding the federal government stop hardline Hindu groups from attacking them.

Christian groups have reported dozens of attacks on priests and institutions over the past year by right-wing groups, said to be linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the country's main opposition group. “This season of attacks on Christians must come to an end,” Joseph D'Souza, president of the All India Christian Council, said at the demonstration.

“Come to your senses, prime minister,” shouted protesters, some holding placards which read: “We are less than 2.5 per cent of the population, why target us?”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads the centrist Congress party-led coalition, which received strong support in the 2004 elections from religious minorities like Muslims and Christians. But his government had not done enough to prevent violence against them, the protesters said.

This month, right-wing Hindus thrashed two Christian priests in public in the western state of Maharashtra, accusing them of trying to forcibly convert low-caste Hindus.

In April, a Christian priest who was also the headmaster of a missionary school was beaten by Hindu activists in front of his family in the western state of Rajasthan, ruled by the BJP. “We have done so much for the country yet there are attacks against us,” Father Arul Anthony, one of the speakers, said. “This saddens us.”

Christian missionaries and groups have set up some of India's best hospitals and colleges, providing education and healthcare to millions of people of all faiths.

Christians make around 2.5 per cent of officially secular but mainly Hindu India's 1.1-billion population. Hindu groups say some Christian organisations try to convert low-caste Hindus and tribals through inducements like free schooling or by force.

Christian groups say hardline Hindus, opposed to their social work among the lower castes and impoverished tribals, intimidate people to try and prevent them from willingly converting to Christianity.

—Reuters