The commission said India's "history of religious freedom has come under attack in recent years with the growth of exclusionary extremist narratives-including, at times, the government's allowance and encouragement of mob violence against religious minorities-that have facilitated an egregious and ongoing campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindu and lower-caste Hindu minorities. Both public and private actors have engaged in this campaign."
Mob violence against Christians by Hindus has been particularly acute. In August, 40 Catholics were physically or verbally assaulted while on a Marian pilgrimage, as assailants believed to be affiliated with the radical Hindu Munnani group blocked the road and destroyed the pilgrims' Marian statue.
In September, around 500 armed Hindu extremists attacked a Jesuit mission in the Archdiocese of Ranchi. Armed with sticks, chains, iron bars, knives, and pistols, the mob beat tribal students including two who were seriously injured, and also seriously damaged the school's facilities.
In May, a Protestant pastor in the central state of Madhya Pradesh has been acquitted of charges held against him under state-level anti-conversion laws.
A group of Hindu nationalists had stormed the church three years ago during a service and began beating and harassing worshipers, ADF International reports.
The police came and arrested the pastor, his wife, and his six-year-old son, stripped them of their clothes, beat them, and kept them detained without bail for three days, finally convicting the family in March of this year of forcing conversion to the Christian faith.
The right to choose one's own religion is found in Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.
Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal has said numerous mob lynchings of Christians have occurred in which the victims are accused of eating beef or otherwise harming cattle, which are considered sacred in Hinduism.
Violence against Christians in India does not end with lynchings, however. The United Christian Forum and ADF India documented 80 "violent mob attacks" across India in the first quarter of 2019 alone.