A Federal Watchdog Just Said India Is Getting More Dangerous For Christians

A U.S. government commission held a hearing this month with a blunt title.

They called it Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in India.

That is blunt diplomatic language. It is a warning.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom met in person on May 7, 2026, and laid out what is happening to religious minorities under the Indian government. Christians were named first among the communities under pressure.

The picture they described is grim.

Mob violence. Harassment.

New anti-conversion laws written to punish the very act of changing your faith.

HEARING SUMMARY: Deteriorating Religious Freedom in Indiahttps://t.co/tzg6luQi01

— USCIRF (@USCIRF) May 13, 2026

If you follow the persecuted church at all, none of this is shocking. India has been climbing the watchlists for years.

What makes this hearing worth your attention is that an official federal body is now saying the trend line is still pointing down, and that the Indian government is tolerating it.

USCIRF described the situation this way on its May 7 hearing page:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held an in-person hearing on religious freedom conditions in India.

In 2026, religious freedom in the country remains on a downward trajectory, with the government tolerating particularly severe religious freedom violations.

Religious minority communities, including Christians and Muslims, as well as Dalits, continue to be the target of violent attacks and harassment.

Several states have strengthened or introduced new anti-conversion laws, imposing harsh penalties for those deemed to have engaged in religious conversions.

The government also continues to wield anti-terrorism and citizenship laws to arbitrarily detain religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf.

Witnesses addressed the continued persecution of religious minorities in India including Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs. They examined the increasing role of transnational repression to target religious minorities beyond India’s borders.

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media.

Read that line about anti-conversion laws again.

The Great Commission is a command.

Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples of all nations. In several Indian states, doing exactly that can now land a believer in legal trouble.

That is the part Christians in the West need to sit with. Sharing the gospel is a crime in places where these laws are on the books, and the penalties are described as harsh.

USCIRF also pointed to broader laws being used against religious minorities and their advocates:

The government also continues to wield anti-terrorism and citizenship laws to arbitrarily detain religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf.

Witnesses addressed the continued persecution of religious minorities in India including Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs.

They examined the increasing role of transnational repression to target religious minorities beyond India’s borders.

Opening Remarks Vicky Hartzler, Chair, USCIRF Asif Mahmood, Vice Chair, USCIRF Written Remarks Congressional Remarks Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) Written Statement Panel Stephen J. Rapp, Former US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice and former International Prosecutor at the Tribunals for Rwanda and Sierra Leone Written Testimony Angana Chatterji, Scholar, University of California, Berkeley Written Testimony Raqib Naik, Founder and Executive Director of Center for the Study of Organized Hate Written Testimony Arjun Sethi, Professor at Georgetown University Law Center Written Testimony David Curry, President, David Curry and Associates Written Testimony

That last sentence should bother every one of us.

Transnational repression means the pressure does not stop at the border. People who flee or speak out from outside the country can still be targeted.

USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler did not soften it. She said conditions are trending downward and pointed straight at the violence.

Chair Hartzler: “FoRB conditions are trending downward in India w/ the govt stripping citizenship, tolerating mob violence against Christians and Muslims & amending the FCRA to seize assets of faith-based NGOs. @SecRubio must raise FoRB issues w/ P.M. Modi during mtg in India.”

— USCIRF (@USCIRF) May 13, 2026

Hartzler also flagged something that hits faith-based ministries directly. The Indian government has been amending a law called the FCRA to seize the assets of faith-based nonprofits.

That is how you choke a church without ever raiding a single service. You cut off the funding, freeze the accounts, and let the ministry starve.

She called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to raise these religious freedom issues directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting in India. That is the right ask.

India is the world’s largest democracy and a partner the United States wants to keep close. None of that should mean American officials go quiet while Christians get beaten by mobs.

Commissioner Stephen Schneck went a step further and named the consequence he wants.

Cmmr @StephenSchneck: “As a democracy & signatory of the ICCPR, freedom of religion or belief must be protected for all persons. Unfortunately, India continues to violate its commitment to FoRB. @StateDept should designate India as a CPC for its particularly severe violations."

— USCIRF (@USCIRF) May 13, 2026

A CPC designation means Country of Particular Concern. It is the label the State Department puts on the worst religious freedom violators on the planet.

Schneck’s point is simple. India signed onto international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief, and India is breaking them.

USCIRF has recommended this designation before. State has repeatedly declined to apply it, choosing the larger strategic relationship over the harder call.

I understand the diplomacy. India matters to American interests, especially with China looming next door.

But Scripture is clear about where our loyalty sits when those two things collide. We are told to remember those in prison as if we were in prison with them, and those who are mistreated as if we ourselves were suffering.

That is Hebrews 13:3.

It is a command for the church, and it applies to our brothers and sisters in India whether or not it is convenient for a trade deal.

The witnesses at this hearing were not abstractions. They came from civil society to describe real people, real attacks, and real families living under a government that the commission says is tolerating the worst of it.

Here is what I keep coming back to. The American church spends a lot of energy on culture war fights at home, and some of those fights matter.

Meanwhile a believer halfway around the world can be detained for handing someone a Bible.

You and I can refuse to look away from India.

USCIRF did its job and sounded the alarm in public. The question is whether anyone with the power to act will listen.

What do you think the State Department should do about India?

Have you been praying for the persecuted church in places like this? Let us know in the comments below.