Cultural Imperialism:
"The universalization of a dominant group’s experience and culture, and its establishment as the norm" (Young, 1990).
Prevalence in india
Christians in India are currently struggling against cultural imperialism due to the current political and cultural pressure to make India a solely Hindu country. The radical movement led by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to unify India under Hinduism without any other religion expression is called Hindutva.
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"An alarming development within the Indian legislature has been the expansion and scope of the notorious Freedom of Religion Acts, popularly known as the anti-conversion laws, which is now enforced in 9 states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (the Hindu Nationalist party--BJP). The laws ostensibly punish forced or fraudulent religious conversions. In actuality, they are used to criminalize all conversions, especially in non-urban settings. Christian activists fear the broadening footprint of the anti-conversion laws are a step closer the BJP's manifesto promising a nation-wide law to outlaw Christian evangelism" (Hate, 2021).
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"One of the greatest driving forces for persecution comes from Hindutva, an ideology that deems all other religions (other than Hinduism) as foreign religions. Because of this, all other religions are seen as a threat to Hindutva’s core notion of making India a Hindu-only country. This ideology manifests in many forms: persecution in politics, culture, and economy. Ultimately, it manifests spiritually in directly targeting Christians" (Perrtula, 2021).
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Impact on occupations
Religious Expression:
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Christians are not able to freely practice their religion in churches and are having to meet secretly in order to not be caught by Hindu extremists. "In 2018, at least 55 churches in Uttar Pradesh, 25 in neighboring Uttarakhand, and 19 in Tamil Nadu have been closed after Hindu fundamentalists raided them or filed complaints with police, according to UCF helpline reports and Alliance Defending Freedom" (Lal & Clark, 2019).
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"Political groups started spying on Christians even going far enough to break into their homes to interrogate Christians and the families they have visited. The spies often accuse pastors of criticizing Hindu gods and goddesses--criminal hate speech in India--or attempting to convert others to Christianity which is illegal in many states. These groups are beginning to more successfully lead police to arrest accused pastors" (Lal, 2021).
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Meal Preparation:
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​Hinduism strictly forbids the slaughter of animals for human consumption (Reference, 2020). Christianity does not forbid any dietary restrictions, and Christians are free to eat pork and beef. Since the dominant Hindu culture precludes the slaughter of beef and pork for consumption, Christians are unable to utilize these products in their cooking. If they do choose to use these animals products for food, they are targeted and attacked.
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Three Christian men were assaulted on September 22, 2019 for allegedly selling beef at a market. One man was killed and the other two were left in critical condition (Carvalho, 2019).
Marginalization:
"A whole category of people is expelled from useful participation in social life and thus potentially subjected to severe material deprivation and even extermination"(Young, 1990).
Prevalence in india
Christians are experiencing marginalization in India as the rise of Hindutva is beginning to force all other religions to convert or be expelled from society. ​
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"The majority of Christians in India are from the lower social strata and many lack good education/training - as a result many are poor. Christians are further facing daily challenges of discrimination, illiteracy, inadequate public healthcare and malnutrition" (Open Doors, 2020).
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Many incidents of social discrimination have been reported. "These are incidents where the access of Christians to drinking water and other community resources including land for cattle, etc. has been cut off. They are barred from social life of the village community and are sometimes forced to flee their homes" (Open Doors, 2020).
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"Christians are often deliberately overlooked when food and supplies from the government and social organizations are distributed for relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the months have passed, the situation has not improved for Christians in desperate need of aid" (Open Doors, 2020).
Impact on occupations
Home Establishment:
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Christians are being excluded from their villages for hosting “Christians are warned by villagers and, in most cases, by the Village-Head that if they want to continue staying in the village, they will have to stop Christian fellowship in their homes or else they would be either thrown out of their own homes and villages or boycotted by the entire village" (Lal & Clark, 2019).
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From January to June in 2021, more than 59 incidents were recorded where people were either forced to leave their homes or villages. Over 422 people emigrated out of India for safety in the same time period (Open Doors, 2020).
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Education:
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​Christian children are experiencing marginalization in their schools by being forced to participate in many Hindu elements in the classroom, even in Christian schools. State-run schools go much further and demand that Christian children attend Hindu festivals and take part in Hindu worship (Open Doors, 2020).
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Christian children are also not allowed to join schools because of their family's Christian beliefs. This prevents them from receiving proper education and the chance to learn vital skills needed to employment as an adult.
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Violence:
"Random, unprovoked attacks on their persons or property, which have no motive but to damage, humiliate, or destroy the person" (Young, 1990).
Prevalence in india
India is ranked as one of the top 10 countries in the world for persecuting Christians. A significant reason for this is because of the extreme acts of violence against Christian in various forms. The violence experienced by Christians is vicious, widespread and ranges from murder to attacks on church, false cases, police immunity and connivance, and the now normalized social exclusion or boycott which is becoming viral (Hate, 2021).
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"For a country that describes itself as the world’s largest democracy, the level of violence against Christians over the past five years has been extremely high. The greatest force behind this are the radical Hindu groups that are aiming at eradicating 'alien' religions (such as Islam and Christianity) from the country. They have been able to carry out their violence (including killings) with impunity as the BJP government in New Delhi and various states hardly ever take action against these atrocities" (Open Doors, 2020). The score of violence against Christians reached a new record high in 2021.
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"The media has widely reported a 28 percent rise in religious and often violent hate crimes in India by Hindu extremist groups since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won national election in 2014 to 2017" (Lal & Clark, 2019).
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Impact on occupations
Safety:
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Indian Christians are not able to live without fear for their safety. A record number of 145 incidents was recorded by the Evangelical Fellowship of India's Religious Liberty Commission from January 2021 to June of 2021. These incidents include three murders, attacks or desertion of 22 churches / places of worship, and 20 cases of ostracization or social boycott in rural areas of families which had refused to renege on their Christian faith and stood up to mobs and political leaders of the local community (Hate, 2021).
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Community Mobility:
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Christians are not able to move freely about many communities without fearing attack, accusation, or arrest in certain states. ​Many of these attacks are brutal and happen frequently as the anti-Christian sentiment becomes more prevalent. "16-year-old Nitish Kumar was attacked with acid in August of 2021 in north India’s Bihar state, leaving him with burns covering 60% of his body.The incident occurred at 6:30am, when Nitish left the house to go to market" (Parker, 2021).
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powerlessness:
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"Inhibition in the development of one’s capacities, lack of decision making power in one’s working life, and exposure to disrespectful treatment because of the status one occupies" (Young, 1990)
Prevalence in india
"The majority of Christians in India are from the lower social strata and many lack good education/training - as a result many are poor. Christians are further facing daily challenges of discrimination, illiteracy, inadequate public healthcare and malnutrition" (Open Doors, 2020). Christians are excluded from many aspects of social participations from family gatherings to employment opportunities because of their faith.
Impact on occupations
Work:
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Christian men in India have experienced harassment within their workplace, and/or even lost their jobs due to their Christian faith. (Open Doors, 2020).
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Christian men suffer the highest rate of unemployment in both rural and urban settings than any other religious group from 2017-2018 (Madhukalya, 2019).
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​Social Participation:
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Christians in India who publicly declare their new faith are shunned and stripped from their caste into the lowest caste, the "untouchables" (Set Free, 2020).
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By being in the lowest caste, they are prohibited from attending certain gatherings, receiving access to medications and healthcare, and living in certain areas of cities.
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"Converts to Christianity experience hostility from their local  village or town, particularly in tribal areas. They risk  being incarcerated by their family and local  community, forcibly married or divorced, or expelled from the village.  Both men and women experience the full weight of social exclusion" (Open Doors, 2020).
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