Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Violence and discrimination against religious minorities in India have sharply increased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, with Muslims and Christians increasingly targeted by groups aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.&nbsp;According to the WSJ, India&rsquo;s Muslims, around 14%&nbsp;of the population, have faced the most severe physical attacks along with systemic discrimination in employment, education, housing and voting rights. Many Muslim communities have been effectively ghettoized, the report said.&nbsp;The newspaper noted that Christians, who make up just 2.3%&nbsp;of India&rsquo;s population and largely belong to poorer segments of society, are also facing growing hostility.&nbsp; Despite being a small minority, Christians have become frequent targets of violence justified under laws in at least 12 Indian states that prohibit religious conversion by &ldquo;force, fraud, or allurement,&rdquo; terms that critics say are broadly and arbitrarily defined.&nbsp;Citing recent incidents, the WSJ reported that mobs disrupted Christmas celebrations across several BJP-ruled states. In Uttar Pradesh, Hindu groups gathered outside churches on Christmas Eve, chanting threats while services were under way.&nbsp;In Madhya Pradesh, a BJP leader was filmed storming a church, disrupting a Christmas feast and assaulting a young blind woman, accusing her of facilitating religious conversions. In Chhattisgarh, Hindu extremists vandalized Christmas displays in a shopping mall, smashing religious imagery.&nbsp;Citizens for Justice and Peace, an Indian human rights organization, described Christmas 2025 as &ldquo;a national flashpoint for majoritarian assertion,&rdquo; saying such attacks were symbolic efforts to signal that &ldquo;Christian visibility itself is unacceptable,&rdquo; the WSJ reported.&nbsp;&#39;Sharp increase in attacks on Christians&#39;Data cited by the newspaper from the United Christian Forum showed that recorded attacks on Christians rose from 139 incidents in 2014 to 834 in 2024, with 706 incidents already documented by November 2025.&nbsp;The WSJ also referenced the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom&rsquo;s 2025 report, which recommended that India be designated a &ldquo;country of particular concern&rdquo; for allowing serious violations of religious freedom to continue with impunity.&nbsp;The commission highlighted cases in which police failed to intervene during mob attacks and noted instances where village councils pressured Christians to renounce their faith or leave their homes.&nbsp;While Prime Minister Modi attended a Christmas Mass in New Delhi and spoke of &ldquo;love, peace and compassion,&rdquo; the WSJ said critics viewed the gesture as hollow, pointing out that he has not publicly condemned the attacks carried out by Hindu extremist groups.&nbsp;The newspaper added&nbsp;that India&rsquo;s constitutionally enshrined secularism has steadily weakened under the Modi government, with critics arguing that official silence has emboldened radical elements and deepened insecurity among the country&rsquo;s religious minorities.

India

Report says India’s Muslims, around 14% of the population,face the most severe physical attacks along with systemic discrimination in employment, education, housing and voting rights.

India sees surge in attacks on Christians, Muslims under Modi: WSJ

ISLAMABAD: Indian opposition&nbsp;has strongly criticized the Modi government for claiming in Parliament that there is no conclusive evidence linking air pollution to deaths or disease, citing multiple scientific studies that show air pollution significantly contributes to mortality and morbidity in India. All India Congress Committee general secretary (Communications)&nbsp;Jairam Ramesh said this in a rebuttal posted on social media platform X on Monday.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2000406730975666360&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=4d640488c048765ecaeb3aa3f3dddb306fdb0f42&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 777px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>According to an Indian media report, Minister of State for Health, Prataprao Jadhav, told Rajya Sabha (Upper House) on Tuesday, that &ldquo;there is no conclusive data available in the country to establish a direct correlation of death/disease exclusively due to air pollution.&rdquo; &ldquo;Air pollution is one of the triggering factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases,&rdquo; Jadhav said in a written reply. &ldquo;The health effects of air pollution are a synergistic manifestation of factors, which include food habits, occupational habits, socioeconomic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc, of the individuals,&rdquo; the minister has stated. About 34,000 deaths&nbsp;Ramesh reacting to the minister&rsquo;s reply in the Parliament, said in his statement that this is the second time the Modi government has shown &ldquo;shocking insensitivity&rdquo;&nbsp;by denying that air pollution contributes to mortality or morbidity. The Indian Congress leader pointed out that the Modi government had made a similar claim earlier on 29th July 2024 in the Rajya Sabha. The opposition leader, while rebutting the government&rsquo;s claim shared that &ldquo;in early July 2024, a study published in the prestigious Lancet journal showed that 7.2% of all deaths in India are associated with air pollution &ndash; about 34,000 deaths each year in just 10 cities.&rdquo; 1.5 million additional deaths&nbsp;Ramesh, in his statement noted that in August 2024, a study by the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Sciences used government data from the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS V) to show that in districts where air pollution exceeds National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), there is a 13% increase in premature mortality for adults and around 100% increase in mortality for children.<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/5eccd9e2-f2f6-4f7f-a28a-d8136335c65d-Tourist in Delhi.jpg" alt="Tourist in Delhi.jpg" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">NEW DELHI: A tourist wearing a face mask looks at decorative items displayed at a market in New Delhi on December 8, 2025. (Photo by AFP/Sajjad Hussain)</figcaption></figure> The Indian opposition leader further stated that in December 2024, a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health estimated that long-term exposure to polluted air contributes to roughly 1.5 million additional deaths in India each year compared with a scenario in which the country met the World Health Organization (WHO)&#39;s recommended safe-exposure limits. 43% jump&nbsp;Ramesh, quoting a November 2025 report prepared by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, USA stated that about two million deaths in India were linked to air pollution &mdash; a 43% jump since the year 2000. &ldquo;About 70% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease deaths were on account of air pollution,&rdquo; he said quoting the report. Price of growth&nbsp;The Indian opposition leader stressed the government to update the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) last promulgated in November 2009, and an overhaul of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2017. The minister concluded his statement by saying &ldquo;India simply cannot afford to pollute its way to prosperity. Increased pollution need not and must not be the price the people of the country are compelled to pay for faster growth.&rdquo;

Opposition leader Jairam Ramesh said in a statement that this is the second time the Modi government has shown “shocking insensitivity by denying that air pollution contributes to mortality or morbidity.”

Articles tagged with "Modi Government"

India sees surge in attacks on Christians, Muslims under Modi: WSJ

Opposition slams Indian government for denying link between air pollution and deaths