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In a “Hagar the Horrible” cartoon strip, two characters hide behind a stone as a huge arrow-about ten times their size-whizzes past them. One of them exclaims, “Wow! Where did the enemy get an arrow that big?” Then the other character says, “More important, where did they get someone big enough to shoot it?” This is a more difficult question. Answering it requires looking far beyond the current situation.

In India, a nation founded on ideals of religious tolerance, the arrows being shot against the minority religious communities are getting bigger and bigger. Since 1997, crimes against Christians have increased. These include churches burned, a priest paraded naked, nuns raped, pastors attacked and Christians arrested. In Divide to Rule, authors Ebe Sunder Raj and others documented 98 attacks on Christians in 1998 alone. Then in January 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burned alive.

However, Christians are not the only objects of hate. Earlier last year, miscreants (suspected to be Muslims) attacked a train compartment in Godhra, Gujarat that left 58 people, all Hindus, to burn to their deaths. Hindu fundamentalist groups called for a fitting response. That response came in the form of a brutal butchering of human lives throughout Gujarat, leaving at least 800 dead-mostly Muslims (many were burned alive).

To add to the minorities’ insecurity, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion bill was passed by the government of Tamil Nadu (a large southern state which is 5.7 percent Christian- India is 2.3 percent Christian) last October. According to the government, this law is merely against “forced” conversions, which is where the catch lies. “If they object to the ordinance that means they are doing forceful conversion,” says VHP’s (a fiercely fundamentalist Hindu party of two million members) international general secretary, Mr. Togadia.

Christians, however, don’t fear the use of a law against them, only its misuse. Christians have repeatedly asserted that they do not believe that forced conversions are real conversions. “Conversions cannot be forced, and forced conversions are not legitimate. This bill created a fear in the minds of the minority that it would be used only against them. It could become true,” says Sister Leema, superior general of St. Anne’s Generalate in Chennai.

The new law requires those who baptize to report those conversions to the district magistrate. Those found guilty of coercing conversions must serve a jail term of up to three years and pay a heavy fine of up to Rs. 50,000 ($1,034 US).

The protests-a show of solidarity among minorities-have been noticeably large and vocal, complete with media attention. The biggest protest, a fasting and prayer event, gathered 75,000 people in October. There was criticism from some Christian quarters when Christian leaders shared the stage with Muslim leaders and politicians with whom they otherwise shared little in common.

Meanwhile Bishop V. Devasahayam, of the Church of South India (an alliance of Protestant churches) of Madras, who is a leading player in the widespread protests, said “Christians have been apolitical, but now we think that we might have to take part in politics too, to fight fundamentalism.” This is significant, as Christians in India have shown scant interest in politics, often viewing it as a dirty word.

The law in itself will be more than a nuisance. “You think we have no other work than to go and stand in front of the local magistrate every time we baptize someone?” asks Bishop Devasahayam. It has induced terror and has great potential for harassment of minority groups. Christian missionaries and pastors have reasons to fear.

Moreover the bill’s actual impact is its implications in India’s burgeoning history of hate against minorities. Seline Augustine, a Christian journalist from Chennai, says, “The law spells the death knell of secularism in our nation.”

The bill has come as a shot in the arm for the pro-Hindu forces. However, they cannot take credit-the Tamil Nadu government passed it more for political reasons, attempting to gain favor from the Hindu nationalist movement. Seizing the moment, Hindu nationalists have called for such laws all over the country.M. Venkaiah Naidu, president of the nation’s leading pro-Hindu party, has also expressed support for such measures. The bill seems to be becoming a precedent.

In Divide to Rule, the authors compared the Indian hate campaign to that of Hitler’s Nazi movement. They observed that the hate literature distributed is similar to Nazi propaganda.

The snowballing of hatred against Christians and other minorities is the result of a determined campaign against them. These incidents are not illusions-the heat of flames burning human flesh, Christians who have given up everything for God and are assaulted, a pastor’s silent fear when a new convert comes for baptism. If history is an indicator and these attacks mean anything, there is more to come.

With the arrows flying past their heads, Christians in India will need to combine vision, strategy, action, ingenuity, soul-searching and prayer with a deep understanding of India’s increasing violence between religious communities. They can use all the prayer that comes their way.

S. John Tilak serves as assistant editor of Light of Life Magazine in Mumbai, India.

Hindu Militancy in the Last Decade
1992 Babri Masjid mosque is demolished on December 6. More than 800 killed in Hindu Muslim clashes that follow.
1993 Serial explosions rock Bombay killing 257 people.
1997 Attacks on Christians on the rise.
1999 Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive.
2001 50,000 Dalits convert to Buddhism renouncing Hinduism.
2002 On February 27, 58 Hindus are set on fire in a train compartment in Godhra, Gujarat. In ‘response,’ at least 800 (mostly Muslims) are slaughtered in Gujarat.
November 2002 Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion bill passed.