By: Rohit Kumar Published in:* The Wire* Date: December 25, 2025 Source: https://thewire.in/communalism/to-those-who-persecute-christians *I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen an example of genuine Christianity in action. I realise you might not have. Perhaps it’s because you have chosen not to.*
I would wish you “Merry Christmas” but you might have an issue with that, so I won’t. (It’s a pity, though, because Christmas is a festival celebrated all over the world by Christians and non-Christians alike and has a charm all its own.) First, allow me to introduce myself. I am a teacher. I work with teenagers in schools in North India and help them navigate their adolescent years which, by all indications are getting increasingly difficult each passing year. I am also a Hindu. The difference between you and me, though, most likely, is that that is not my primary identity. I am a human being and an Indian first and foremost (as are you). Everything else is secondary. I believe all humans are worthy of dignity and respect, regardless of their caste, creed, background or religion. What do you believe? Incidentally, I received my primary education at a Ramakrishna Mission School in New Delhi. Because of the nature of the school, I got quite a grounding in the Hindu scriptures, but at no point do I remember our teachers (who were *sanyasinis*) teaching us to hate other religions or consider ours supreme, the way many of you do. In fact, one of the first things I remember memorising as a child was Narendra Nath Dutta (Swami Vivekanand’s) speech to the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. He began his speech by reminding his audience that there were many ways of reaching the divine: “Sisters and Brothers of America, I will quote to you…a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.” He then went on to give an admonition that is worth pondering: “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. “But their time has come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.” The bell that tolled that morning, unfortunately did not ring the death-knell for all fanaticism. What is in danger, instead, is *insaaniyat*, or if you prefer, *maanavtaa* (humaneness), something that seems to be profoundly missing in people like Anju Bhargava, local BJP leader from Jabalpur, who barged into a Christmas lunch <https://www.newslaundry.com/2025/12/23/she-told-me-i-am-blind-because-of-my-past-deeds-woman-recounts-abuse-at-christmas-event> for visually and hearing-impaired students, and physically confronted a visually impaired woman, making derogatory remarks about her disability, and telling her she would be blind in her next life as well. Why so much hate? It’s not good for anyone, least of all for the haters. It is good to remember that “Hate is an acid that almost does more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than it is to the object on which it is poured.” When Narendra Modi became prime minister of India in 2014, he promised *“Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishvas”* to all Indians. Sad to say, since then there has been a 550% increase in attacks on the Indian Christian community. <https://www.ucanews.com/news/500-rise-in-attacks-on-christians-in-india-triggers-alarm/110878> My question is – why? What is so threatening about a community that barely constitutes 2.3% of the country’s population? (Or is that, like most bullies, you find it easiest to pick on the weakest?) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has also issued a recent appeal urging Hindus to refrain from celebrating Christmas this year, and has asked shopkeepers, malls and schools not to sell or display Christmas-related items or greetings ahead of the festival. (This diktat has gone unheeded, incidentally. The markets I visited recently are full of Christmas trees and decorations which many (including and mostly non-Christians) are buying. The traders are prioritising sales over bigotry. The people of the community you hate so much have a very simple creed given to them by the Christ they worship and follow, and whose coming into the world Christmas commemorates: “Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and your fellow human as yourself.“ (Matthew 22:37–39) It is a creed that has illuminated and defined the lives of millions – from the very famous to the virtually unknown – inspiring them to lead lives of sacrifice and selflessness and serve the poorest and weakest. Christians, incidentally, were also forewarned by their Christ who told them not to be surprised when “men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely.” (Matthew 5:11) He then exhorted them to “Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven”. (Matthew 22:37–39) How do you hate those who refuse to hate you back? The justification that so many who hate and persecute Christians offer is that “they are converting people to Christianity.” Whenever I hear that line, my mind goes back to January 26, 2001. A terrible earthquake had levelled entire cities and towns like Bhuj, Bachau and Anjar in Gujarat. Moved by stories of suffering coming out of Gujarat, I and a group of friends loaded up a couple of trucks with relief supplies and headed out to the westernmost district of Gujarat, where not much aid had reached. After a 40-hour journey by road, we reached a town called Naliya, where we learned that a Catholic school was now serving as a makeshift base camp for relief work. Upon reaching that school, we were greeted by a young man who introduced himself as Father Saji, who invited us all for a warm meal and told us we could stay in the school dorm for the duration of our relief work there. The next morning, I realised we weren’t the only volunteers present. Many other volunteers and NGOs who wanted to help the victims of the earthquake had arrived at the school as well. I will never forget the meeting Father Saji had with all of us that morning. “Welcome to Naliya,” he said. “Thank you all for coming here to help the needy. I want to make it very clear that even though we are Christians, and we are motivated by our faith, we are not here to preach or proselytise. I am Christian, you may be Hindu or Muslim or Sikh. It doesn’t matter. We are only here to serve the suffering, and we are very happy to join hands with you.” He then led us in a prayer that all of us knew: “इतनी शक्ति हमें देना दाता, मन का विश्वास कमज़ोर हो ना हम चलें नेक रस्ते पे हमसे, भूलकर भी कोई भूल हो ना।” “Grant us such strength, O Giver, that our faith does not grow weak; May we walk on the righteous path, and never stray, even by mistake.” The next three weeks were some of the most memorable ones of my life. Every day we loaded up small tempos of relief supplies and headed out into the Kutch desert, to villages that had been destroyed in the quake. Every evening after distribution, we returned to a hot meal in the school and the company of Father Saji and the other volunteers where we exchanged the stories of the day and made plans for the next day. I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen an example of genuine Christianity in action. I realise you might not have. Perhaps it’s because you have chosen not to. This Christmas, though, I pray that you will step outside the limits of hate you have circumscribed for yourself and see that there is a world full of good people out there, even if they are not the same religion as you. Merry Christmas! *Rohit Kumar is an educator and can be reached at [email protected] <[email protected]>.*
