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PPP’s Sherry Rehman Voices Concern Over Violence Against Minorities in India
PPP Senate leader Sherry Rehman criticizes Indian PM Modi for ignoring violence by Hindu radicals against Christians and Muslims, calling silence a sign of impunity.
ND
by News Desk
2026-01-03
PPP’s Sherry Rehman Voices Concern Over Violence Against Minorities in India

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Parliamentary Leader in the Senate, Sherry Rehman, on Saturday expressed deep concern over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continued silence regarding attacks on religious minorities in India.

Rehman’s remarks came following a series of incidents before December 25, where mobs armed with sticks vandalized Christmas decorations in central India and disrupted holiday celebrations in schools in the northeast, including the states of Chhattisgarh, Assam, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh. Right-wing Hindu groups were reported to have burned merchandise and attacked Christians celebrating Christmas.

“What stops Prime Minister Modi from condemning the actions of Hindu radicals who attack Christians — as we all do in Pakistan — from clearly stating that such violence is unacceptable in a civilised country?” Senator Rehman asked, adding, “I think we know the answer, he is okay with impunity.”

She emphasised that true leadership is measured by the willingness to confront extremism within one’s own support base. Silence, she warned, risks normalising hate-driven violence and signalling tolerance for impunity.

The concerns raised by Rehman align with reporting by The Wall Street Journal, which highlights a rise in attacks on religious minorities in India since Modi’s rise to power in 2014. Muslim communities, which make up approximately 14 percent of India’s population, face widespread social exclusion, ghettoisation, and targeted violence. Christians, around 2.3 percent of the population and largely from economically marginalised backgrounds, are also increasingly victimised.

The WSJ report notes that radical Hindu groups have fixated on the perceived “threat” of Christian conversion, despite the community’s small size. At least 12 Indian states have passed laws restricting religious conversion under vague terms such as “force, fraud, or allurement,” with peaceful religious activity often criminalised under these provisions. Violence against Christians is frequently justified under the pretext of enforcing such laws.

Senator Rehman underscored that protecting religious freedom and minority rights is a universal democratic obligation, not a selective or regional issue. “A civilised nation is defined not by the power of its majority, but by how it protects its most vulnerable citizens,” she said, urging India to denounce hate-based violence, uphold constitutional protections, and ensure accountability for perpetrators of religiously motivated attacks.
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