Burned Alive and Tortured: Persecution Horror in India Rages

A watchdog is sounding the alarm about increasing anti-Christian persecution in India, the world's most populous nation. Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at Christian Solidarity International, told CBN News that the intensifying situation comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to the U.S. this week to meet with President Donald Trump. The encounter could offer an opportunity for Trump and the West to pressure Modi to stem the tide of persecution, according to Veldkamp. The watchdog said the most "extreme case" of persecution is unfolding in Manipur, a state in India's northeast. "This is a place where, about two years ago, the region exploded into anti-Christian violence," Veldkamp said. "There was a conflict over land rights about who had what right to own what land in the territory, and it turned into a religious conflict." And that conflict forced 40,000 Christians to flee their homes over the course of a few weeks. With nearly two years passing since that chaos, the situation remains grim for the majority Christian Kuki-Zo community. "Most of them now live in refugee camps where the rates of deaths from cancer, and kidney failure, and other treatable illnesses have really skyrocketed, because they simply have no access to medicine or to basic supplies," he said. "And that violence against this specific group of Christians called the Kuki-Zo people continues until this day." Just months ago, one of the most horrific examples of violence unfolded. "There was a mother of three, a Christian woman from this Indigenous group ... who was attacked by Hindu militants, raped, and burned alive," Veldkamp said. "And that set off another round of violence between the groups, scores of people were killed, more people were displaced, and the government really seems kind of completely absent from this situation."