West Bengal Christians take the attacks to human rights commissions.

On October 5, 2026, the Bangiya Christiya Pariseba (BCP), the Bengal Christian Council that brings together Christians of several denominations in the state, filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission, the West Bengal Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities. The same day, a public hearing in Kolkata heard pastors, victims and witnesses before civil rights groups. The Indian fact-checking site Alt News reported the case on October 7.

What Christians are reporting

Raids on prayer meetings, edited videos used as "proof" of forced conversion, and police who question the victims instead of the attackers.

• House churches raided: worshippers assaulted and Christian symbols desecrated. The India Hate Lab report counted at least 60 incidents in 13 districts between May 13 and September 20, 52 of them raids on prayer meetings.
• Edited videos: according to the BCP, clips recorded by the attackers themselves circulate as evidence of forced conversion and have been shown to district officials.
• Police on the wrong side: attackers are usually let go, while pastors and victims are taken to police stations for late-night questioning. Only 13 cases became police reports (FIRs).
• What the council asks for: an independent inquiry, forensic review of the videos, registration of every pending complaint and police protection for house churches on worship days.

Why it matters

West Bengal is where the project's theology course in Bengali begins. Christians were 0.72% of the state's population in the 2011 Census, and pressure has grown since the change of state government in May 2026. Christian leaders fear the campaign is preparing the ground for an anti-conversion law, like those already in force in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.