Whats behind anti-Christian violence in India?
“The fire is spreading,” Indian newspaper The Times of India says, talking about the escalation in Hindu attacks on Christians in the east and south of the country. Hindu extremists have burned down churches, homes and schools belonging to Christians, and the spiralling communal violence has so far killed 22 people in the eastern state of Orissa. The mobs driving thousands into makeshift government camps are complaining that Christians in the area are forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity. But has this intensifying violence been solely sparked by conversions? Many commentators think not, pointing to the violence’s social, economic and political roots. “The attacks on Christians are being sought to be justified on the ground that people are being forcibly converted from Hinduism or tribalism to Christianity,” the The Times of India writes. “But on closer scrutiny, it appears the issue isn’t merely of conversion.” Instead the trigger seems to be in the rise in prosperity and status
