Majority of incidents alleged as Christian persecution either false or wrongfully projected, Centre tells SC

The Centre has denied the charges made in the public interest litigations filed pertaining to the alleged rise in violence and attacks on Christians. In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has submitted that majority of the incidents cited by the petitioners as attacks on Christians were wrongly projected in the said news reports relied on in their pleas.

"It is submitted that enquiries reveal that the majority of the incidents alleged as Christian persecution in these reports were either false or wrongfully projected," the MHA stated in an affidavit.

It added that the reports relied on by the petitioner are merely "self-serving" and there were discrepancies in the pleas. Submitting that the concerned state police have already conducted probes into the cases which do not have a communal tone to it, the MHA said "About 162 incidents were not truthfully recorded and the remaining 139 were either false or deliberately projected wrongfully as instances of targeted violence against Christians".


The pleas were filed by the Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese Peter Machado and the National Solidarity Forum claiming that there was targeted violence against Christians by right-wing organisations. The petitioners sought registration of FIRs against the accused and investigation by special investigation teams into the alleged instances.

The petitioners also sought quashing of what they called frivolous cases filed by such attackers on the victims.