Where in the world is religious liberty rapidly shrinking? Is it under tyrannical regimes like North Korea, in communist countries such as China or in Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia? All three countries are – unsurprisingly – named as violators of religious freedom in a new study by the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). But the nation causing the most alarm, according to the report, is a democracy with a fast-growing economy and strong ties to the West.
ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World report, released last week and available at religion-freedom-report.org, singles out India as one of the world’s worst nations in which to be a religious minority. “Among those countries which saw the sharpest decline in religious freedom during the period in question , India is particularly significant as it is the world’s second most populous country,” it notes. The report has no difficulty identifying the cause of this deterioration: “a rise in religious ultra-nationalism”. As Hindu nationalism – which asserts that Hindus are the only truly authentic Indians – grows in political strength, religious minorities are driven further to the margins.
