India (MNN) — Hindu nationalists are responding to growing criticism of India’s human rights record.
“The RSS, which is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organization, has gone on an international PR [public relations] campaign,” John Pudaite of Bibles For The World says.
“With visits to the US, Britain, and Germany, [the RSS is] trying to downplay their role in the persecution and oppression against minorities, both Christian and Muslim, in India.”
International Christian Concern describes the Western tour as the RSS’s attempt to “whitewash” its public record. In early May, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlighted declining religious freedom conditions in India.
“There is definitely religious persecution happening all across India. It continues at the rate of at least two incidents per day,” Pudaite says.
Members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, marching with the Saffron Flag. 2016
(Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Like the Nazi Party in Hitler’s Germany, the RSS is closely tied to India’s current political leadership. As a result, persecution often goes unpunished.
“The RSS is the ideological backbone of the BJP; many of the leadership of the BJP are also RSS members,” Pudaite says.
How persecution unfolds
Spurred on by RSS ideology, Hindu nationalists frequently use anti-conversion laws and mob violence to persecute Christians.
On May 27, Hindu nationalist groups disrupted a private Christian event in Madhya Pradesh over allegations of forced conversions. In Punjab, new 2026 legislation intensifies existing measures, paving the way for an anti-conversion law and threatening believers.
“There are other activist organizations within India that are actually more on the forefront, carrying out the attacks on pastors, priests, churches, places of worship, even home worship,” Pudaite admits.
“They (the RSS) are trying to present themselves as primarily a cultural organization and distance themselves from any of the ongoing persecution and abuses,” he continues.
“They might not act directly under their RSS banner when these things are happening, but they certainly are behind the scenes, instigating a lot of these activities.”
Yet hope remains. While persecution increases, “At the same time, we see a surge in demand for God’s Word,” Pudaite says.
“In the last month alone, we have distributed 400,000 gospels of John across India in 11 different languages. There’s tremendous hunger for God’s Word, and Christians who are very inspired, very motivated to share their faith.”
Partner with Bibles For The World here to help believers distribute Bibles in India.
Header image depicts a 2013 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh parade in Udaipur. (Daniel VILLAFRUELA, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
