Marbom Tasar’s story is well known among the Christian community in Arunachal Pradesh, a state in Northeast India that shares a disputed border with China. Tasar and his business partner, Tai Tatu, became Christians in 1968 while staying with Tasar’s Christian relatives in Roing, a town in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh. They then made the 160-mile return trip their village, Lete, to share the gospel with their fellow Gelo tribesmen who practiced animism. Soon after they arrived, Tasar found that homemade wine had caused severe dysentery in several villagers. Tasar went from house to house, praying for the sick and witnessing miraculous healings, according to his daughter, Bomto Paipodia. The families of those who were healed accepted Christianity, and Tasar began the work of building a church for three local villages. Two months later, tribal leaders and villagers, upset over the conversions, burned down the church. To curb further spread of Christianity, the police arrested Tasar, Tatu, and another believer. “For us, persecution started right from the time we carried the gospel to our village and the neighboring villages,” Tasar said. In the 1970s, Tasar faced more arrests and harassment. He fled deep into the forest and slept in trees to evade capture. Authorities tortured some

As of this week, a newly enacted anti-conversion law requires people in India’s Rajasthan state to give two months’ notice to the government if they plan to change their religion voluntarily. Further, the “converter,” or the person performing the conversion ceremony, must also give the government a month’s notice of his intention to perform the ceremony. The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, has made the procedures for conversions exhaustive and lengthy to stop unlawful conversions. Failure to involve government authorities in voluntary religious conversions could lead to up to three years in jail and a minimum fine of 10,000 rupees ($115). The new law states that a prescribed declaration form should be submitted to the District Magistrate (DM) or the relevant authority 60 days before the person wants to convert voluntarily. If the converter violates the law, it could lead to up to five years imprisonment and a minimum fine of 25,000 rupees ($289). An officer not below the rank of Additional DM will “get an inquiry conducted through police with regard to real intention, purpose, and cause of the proposed religious conversion.” Then, within 60 days of conversion, the converted person must send a declaration in a prescribed form to the

Fifty Christians were attacked during a Sunday service in Rajasthan state in western India, when a group of about 200 people stormed a church building in Bikaner city. Several attendees sustained injuries after being struck with iron rods, and the assailants vandalized the property before police arrived. In the attack, which took place near the end of the service, three worshipers were severely injured on Feb. 16, while many others bore bruises across their bodies, reported the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide last week. The pastor of the church, who asked to remain anonymous due to security reasons, said a new member had attended the service that day and was seen sending messages minutes before the mob entered the church, at which point he ran out of the building. The attackers left hastily when police arrived at the scene. Police questioned the injured Christians afterward and accused them of forced conversions. The pastor’s children were cautioned that they should not turn out like their father. Local authorities then escorted the pastor, his spouse and a few other Christians to the Mukta Prasad police station, where the mob’s accusations of forced conversion were examined. The pastor and his companions were not charged, as evidence of

India's federal body to protect religious minorities' interests has urged the government in the central Chhattisgarh state to ensure Christians' safety after a right-wing Hindu man allegedly mobilized a movement for anti-Christian genocide. The Feb. 25 letter of the National Commission for Minorities referred to the "disturbing call for violent attacks against Christians" in Chhattisgarh on March 1 and asked the state to protect Christians. "We are relieved now," said A C Michael, the Christian leader who brought the threat to the notice of the quasi-judicial federal body. Michael is the national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, an ecumenical body that records persecution against Christians in India. The commission said Michael highlighted an "incendiary" social media post attributed to Adesh Soni, a self-proclaimed cow protection vigilante, that called for sexually assaulting and murdering Christians in the state. The video also contained a snippet of Soni speaking at a gathering of religious leaders and referring to a planned March 1 rally in the state to protest cow slaughter, it said. The social media post and the snippet of Soni together gave the impression "that he was mobilizing a movement for genocide against Christians," said the letter addressed to the state. The federal body said Soni has