Moirong, Manipur, India

In the summer of 2023, 21Wilberforce’s Ambassador for the Asia Pacific region updated the 21Wilberforce team about the growing crisis in the northern Indian State of Manipur and the resulting widespread devastation and trauma faced by the local Christian population.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that the ongoing conflict between the state’s majority Hindu community and the Christian population resulted in the direct targeting of religious symbols and places of worship and refuge. In early May 2023, more than 250 churches of different denominations were burned or damaged across the state. It was reported by 21Wilberforce local partners that mobs killed 120 Christians, injured hundreds, burnt or vandalized homes and 130 churches, and caused approximately 50,000 believers to be displaced. Read more here.

Christians praying in Madurai, India

“Christians are the new scapegoat in India’s political battles,” said Smita Narula, author of the report and researcher for the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. “Without immediate and decisive action by the government, communal tensions will continue to be exploited for political and economic ends.”

While this quote is relevant today, sadly it was written in 1999…25 years ago! This Human Rights Watch report titled “Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India”, documented the role of Sangh Parivar organizations and the local media in promoting anti-Christian propaganda, the exploitation of communal differences to mask political and economic motives underlying the attacks, local and state government complicity in the attacks, and the failure of the central government to meet its constitutional and international obligations to protect minorities. Read more here.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress with the passage of the IRF Act of 1998 to monitor, analyze, and report on threats to religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief.

Nine USCIRF Commissioners are appointed (three by the President, two by leaders of the President's party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the party not in the White House) to serve for two years. Commissioners are eligible for reappointment. Read more here.