President Trump Visits India Where Religious Persecution Continues

President Trump's historic two-day visit to India on February 24-25, 2020 will be memorable for a host of reasons, but what will it mean for Catholics inside India and the US?

Trade will be on the agenda according to news reports, but a more pressing issue for US Catholics will be the recent persecutions of Christians in the Hindu nation.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to power on a Hindu nationalist platform. Since Modi came to power attacks on Christians and other minorities have increased.

The Hindu majority will not permit evangelization, but Catholics are called by Jesus Christ to preach His gospel.

The US--India relationship has benefited India tremendously as US companies has imported over one million workers from India.

The United States of America was founded on religious freedom--religious liberty--which helps religious minoirities. The Indian workers living in the US are primarily of the highest caste and practice the Hindu religion. The Hindus living in America has not suffered persecutions the way so many Catholics living in India have.

Elections have consequences. One of those consequences is voters who cast the deciding vote in elections rightfully expect to be appreciated.

In 2016, Indian-American citizens voted for Trump at a less than 7 % rate while US-born Catholics voted for President Trump at a 52 % rate (60 % White; 26 % Hispanic).

Will President Trump address India's lack of religious tolerance?

For example, Christian children were beaten on Sunday, January 19, 2020 as they made their way to a private home to worship. The preacher's hand was broken after he tried to intervene. The Hindu crowd photographed the Christians, then threatened to burn the home. The mob reported the Christians to the police stating falsely they had been attacked by the Christian worshipers.

Christians were targeted in a total of 328 cases of hostilities throughout India in 2019.

Another issue is freedom to worship, a part of religious liberty. The Archdiocese of Bangalorel, India hasn't been able to complete a project on its own land, to erect a hundred-foot statue of Jesus, because of complaints from local Hindu groups. There is a “Way of the Cross” already on the Church-owned land. D.K. Shivakumar, a Hindu politician, donated the land to the Catholic diocese. Some groups are asking how he obtained the land, citing wildlife concerns and adding a deity, Kapali Betta, lives there.

In another incident in August, 2019 a group of radical Hindus attacked Catholic pilgrims in South East India. Back in 2008, a series of riots ended with as many as 500 Christians killed: many hacked to death by machete-wielding Hindu radicals, many thousands were injured, and about 50,000 were left homeless.

Many complain that police and prosecutors are slow to investigate offenses committed against Christians by Hindu radicals.

These attacks are a few examples of the lack of religious tolerance that should be addressed.

As the USA and other Western nations allow companies to hire more and more workers from India, who then eventually become citizens, what will it mean for religious freedom?

Will issues like abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, social programs for the disadvantaged or elderly, and other Catholic imperatives be affected by the increase of Hindu workers in the West?

Will US-born Catholics be excluded from influencing government policies as more workers from Hindu-majority India arrive? Will the US leaders insist on an end to Christian persecution in India in exchange for financial deals?

A historic trip by a US President during an election year is an opportunity to think about what Catholic citizens expect from our leaders.

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News Sources:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Employment-based/I140_by_class_country_FY09_19.pdf

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/why-hindu-americans-dont-vote-republican/

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/

https://morningstarnews.org/2020/02/hindu-extremists-in-southern-india-beat-christian-children-accuse-worshippers/

https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2020/01/09/india-catholics-aim-to-build-100-foot-jesus-statue-despite-hindu-criticism/

https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2019/05/indias-political-earthquake-could-jeopardize-christian-minority/

https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/india-caste-catholicism-and-indian-culture