“India’s Christians, Sikhs face discrimination”

“India’s Christians, Sikhs face discrimination”

Context:

The British government has been asked to raise concerns on the treatment of Christian and Sikh minorities in India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April.

Discrimination faced by Christians and Sikhs in India:

• During a debate in the House of Commons on ‘freedom of religion or belief’, Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Martin Docherty-Hughes highlighted figures showing discrimination against Christians and Sikhs in India
• India has risen to the position of the 11th most dangerous country for Christians
• There have been 23,000 incidents of physical and mental abuse against Christians of all denominations, and 6, 35,000 Christians have reportedly been detained without trial or unfairly arrested.
• Mr. Docherty-Hughes also referred to the situation of Sikhs in India, arguing that a debate on the push for self-determination needed to be separated from religious persecution issues.
• The number of Sikhs detained for very long periods by state authorities continues to rise across all the Indian states