KASHMIR 24 | Minorities in India | 12 October 2026
Christians in West Bengal say they are facing an unprecedented wave of raids on prayer meetings, vandalism of churches and threats. Over the weekend an opposition fact-finding team toured affected districts, and a Christian forum has taken complaints to India's national human rights and minority commissions.
What the fact-finding team found
A three-member team from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), led by Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose, visited Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Paschim Medinipur on Sunday, 11 October, according to PTI and the Millennium Post. The team first met the Archbishop of Calcutta. It then went to Divine Mercy Church in Bamanpukur and Christ the King Church in Balichak.
The team made these allegations:
- A Christian man's body was forcibly exhumed and cremated in Moninathpur village.
- Christian families have been denied water supply and access to graveyards.
- Nuns at the Auxilium Convent in Shimultala, Barasat, were threatened by a mob over construction on their own land.
- Christians were pressured to "return" to Hinduism.
Ghose blamed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal for what she called "unprecedented attacks". These are the team's allegations. PTI reported no immediate response from the state government or the police.
60 incidents in four months
Data from India Hate Lab, reported by India Tomorrow, records at least 60 incidents against Christians across 13 districts of West Bengal between 13 May and 20 September 2026. They break down as follows (some incidents fall under more than one type):
- 52 raids on prayer meetings, homes and churches
- 8 physical assaults, mob attacks or acts of vandalism
- 5 public hate-speech events
- 3 protests over alleged conversions
South 24 Parganas and Paschim Medinipur each recorded 13 raids. The report describes several patterns. Worshippers were questioned about their religion and asked to show their Aadhaar cards. Christian women were pressured to remove the sakha-pola bangles and sindoor they wear. In several cases police detained the worshippers after the groups complained, rather than the attackers.
Complaint to NHRC and the Minorities Commission
On 5 October the Bangiya Christiya Pariseba (BCP), a forum of Christian denominations in Bengal, filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission, the West Bengal Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities, Alt News reported. The BCP says FIRs were registered in only 13 cases, and only after "extraordinary effort and legal intervention". It asked for:
- a high-level independent inquiry,
- police protection for house churches during weekly prayers, and
- a probe into edited videos used to accuse worshippers of forced conversion.
Christian schools have also said they will seek a meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, the Millennium Post reported. An RSS spokesperson denied the allegations and said Christian schools have adequate security.
The wider human rights picture in India
These incidents in Bengal fit a national pattern documented by international monitors. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the US State Department designate India a "Country of Particular Concern", its highest category of concern. Its August 2026 India Country Brief reports the following.
Laws used against minorities
- Anti-conversion laws: 13 of India's 28 states had them as of June 2026. Maharashtra's 2026 law carries a minimum sentence of seven years and requires approval 60 days before a conversion. Chhattisgarh's 2026 law exempts conversions to Hinduism.
- Cow-slaughter laws: 20 of 28 states criminalise cow slaughter. USCIRF says mobs, sometimes of hundreds of people, act under the cover of these laws and the anti-conversion laws.
- Citizenship and voting: the Citizenship Amendment Act is now implemented nationally. West Bengal's voter-roll revision dropped more than nine million names.
Demolitions
- Authorities demolished dozens of religious sites in the first half of 2026, including at least 14 mosques and dargahs in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Civil society and the press
- About 22,000 organisations have lost their foreign-funding (FCRA) licences since 2010.
- Reporters Without Borders ranks India 157th of 180 countries for press freedom.
- Access Now has named India the world's worst offender for internet shutdowns for six years running.
Custody and detention
- USCIRF counts 170 deaths in custody in 2025–26 that were not followed by disciplinary action.
- Activists and scholars, including Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, remain jailed under anti-terror laws.
Attacks on Christians elsewhere
- A pastor in Odisha was beaten and forced to eat cow dung.
- A Christian family's home in Chhattisgarh was torn down by a crowd of about 200.
- Three Baptist pastors were killed in an ambush in Manipur.
The Indian government has rejected USCIRF's assessments in the past, calling them biased. Rights groups say the pattern of impunity, not any single incident, is what most threatens India's religious minorities.
Sources
- PTI via Siasat — AITC team probes attacks on Christians in Bengal (11 Oct 2026)
- Millennium Post — AITC team alleges attacks on Christian institutions (11 Oct 2026)
- India Tomorrow — 60 incidents in 4 months, India Hate Lab data (3 Oct 2026)
- Alt News — Bengal Christian body moves NHRC, minority commission (7 Oct 2026)
- Millennium Post — Christian schools flag attacks, seek meeting with RSS chief (11 Oct 2026)
- USCIRF — India Country Brief (August 2026)
The illustrative graphics for this story are on the Kashmir 24 Facebook page. They are not photographs of the events described.