'Christians in India afraid of Christmas as Hindutva sweeps the nation'

After witnessing the horrific plight of Muslims under a Hindu nationalist regime, the Christian community in India is now living under fear that it might be the next target of the rising tide intolerance sweeping the sub-continental nation.

A stark reminder of the difficulties minorities face as a result of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's repressive policies is the preparations surrounding the Christmas season.

An article published on Saturday in the leading United States (US) daily The New York Times (NYT) highlights how a non-Hindu festival that was celebrated by people from all walks of life in India now finds itself caught in the cross hairs of Hindutva.

"Christmas is recognised as a government holiday. But as far-right Hindu groups have gained traction, India has changed. Christmas has now found itself caught in the cross hairs," the article said of a 80 per cent Hindu-majority country, where Christians make up a meager 2.3 per cent of population of more than a billion people.

Last week in Madhya Pradesh police detained 32 people, including two priests, who were singing Christmas carols after a right-wing Hindu group accused them of forcing religious conversions, the NYT report said.

In another incident, the wife of a prominent politician was condemned online for endorsing a Christmas charity event.

Also in December, a far-right Hindu group sent letters to schools and warned them against holding Christmas functions, saying they would be doing so "at their own risk".

"We are afraid of Christmas this year," said AC Michael, the national coordinator of an Indian advocacy group, in a statement.

Christian persecution by Hindus has risen in India, say humanitarian groups

According to the US daily, some officials in India tried to change the official recognition of a Christmas holiday by the state after PM Modi took over the government in 2014.

It is all part of a broader ideological battle that has produced countless acts of violence and harassment across India based on religious identity, NYT reports.

"Indian cities are said to have become more segregated along religious lines," says Sanjay Srivastava, a sociology professor at Delhi University.

Tensions over the Christmas holiday have also erupted into all out confrontations in some parts of India this month, the newspaper adds.

A mob assaulted carol singers on Dec 14 in a village in Madhya Pradesh. The police, instead of arresting the members of mob, arrested carolers for inflaming religious sentiments. Eight priests who came to the police station to help free the singers were also detained and their car, which was parked outside the police station, was set on fire.

Indian police arrest Christian priest after complaint by Hindu group

"We are pained, and we are shocked, this incident creates further anxiety in the minds and hearts of the Christian faithful and the minorities in the country," Cardinal Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, was quoted as saying by the report at a news conference in New Delhi.

Also this week, a Hindu group disrupted a Christmas celebrations in a village in Rajasthan, who barged into a community center where the celebrations were underway, throwing away hymn books and accusing the participants of trying to covert locals.