AHMEDABAD, India — Sitting crammed among Christian leaders inside a tiny room in a downtown hotel in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat, Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., asked: “Is he the man we are talking about?“

Arun Christi, a shy pastor who runs Good Shepherd Community Church nearby, wearily acknowledged him.

“Yes, this is the man the Bajrang Dal has threatened to kill if he doesn't stop preaching,” said John Dayal, national vice president of the All-India Catholic Union, of the pastor.

After a weeklong tour of India from Jan. 8-13, members of a delegation of U.S. Congressmen led by Pitts expressed profound shock about the degree of overt persecution of Christians across India.

“We are touched by the suffering of the Christian and Muslim minorities at the hands of Hindu extremists here,” Pitts said.

According to police records, the number of reported attacks on Christians in India increased from seven in 1996 to 380 in 2003. Unofficial estimates put the number as high as 600 last year.

Persecution in India takes the form of direct threats, mob violence, damage to churches, burning of Bibles and even murders. Persecution by official machinery comes in the form of biased laws and regulations and indifference by the police force to pleas of help from Christians.

The four-member congressional team heard a group of people from different communities discuss their fears, battles and efforts toward fostering harmony in the country. The team also visited some sites of anti-minority riots in Gujarat.

The visit was organized by the All-India Christian Council and assisted by Jubilee Campaign, a British human-rights group that lobbies to protect persecuted churches.

“Once back home we will report on the anti-conversion laws, the status of Dalit [lower-class] Christians and the anti-minority violence in India,” Pitts told the Register. He said the team's report would serve as background for American foreign policy toward India.

“We learned about the Dalits, 250 million people who are suffering in almost indescribable, inhumane ways,” he said. “This is a great human-rights tragedy. We have the obligation to bring this to the attention of the national leaders in the United States.”

Most rioters and killers of minority Christians and Muslims are still at large, he said.

Pitts reflected on the provisions of the anti-conversion law recently implemented in Gujarat and its impingement on the freedom of faith and democracy.

“It is strange to see this reversal of human rights in the land of Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.

The other members of the delegation were Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz; Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo.; and Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. The team also visited a rehabilitation site established by the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind for the riot victims and handed over keys to free houses to the beneficiaries.

Pitts, vice chairman of the congressional Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Human Rights, and his team also visited a massacre site in the Gulbarg Society, where Indian Member of Parliament Ehsan Jaffrey was killed.

Chabot, who had visited strife-torn Rwanda as part of another delegation, said the massacre in Gujarat was probably more gruesome than the one in the African nation.

“Though the numbers vary hugely, the degree of violence and the gravity of the involvement of the administration is vastly disturbing,” he said.

The extremist violence in the states of Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka and Chattisgarh are continuing to affect the normal lives of Christians and Muslims. At least 4,000 cases of persecution or attack against Christians are pending in the Indian courts.

In India, Hindu extremist groups such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have a long history of involvement in attacks on Christian missions. Tribals and the untouchable Dalits who are said to have converted to Christianity are often coerced or threatened to re-embrace the Hindu religion while the police watch.

Samson Christian, general secretary of the All-India Christian Council, said, “Last Sunday in Pareva village about 65 miles from here, loudspeakers were used by extremists who propagated hatred against Christians.”

Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, the newly elect president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, wel-comed initiatives on the part of U.S. leaders to learn about the persecution of minorities in India.

“We need to strengthen unity in the Catholic Church to fight against divisive forces,” the cardinal said. “They are trying to destroy the secular and multi-religious fabric of this country.”

“We will fight against all social injustice and communal disharmony,” he said. “Though we are a minority, Catholics can do much for the people. Initiatives from the American team can be helpful.”

Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are the most recent states to enact stringent laws that selectively cripple the freedom of faith of Christians. The central government is planning to apply similar laws across the nation.

Physical violence against Christians continues across the nation, averaging more than 200 cases recorded every year since 1998. Many times more go unre-ported due to fear of retribution.

“We call upon the international community,” said Joseph D'Souza, president of the All-India Christian Council, “to put moral pressure on the government of India to retract from the path of fostering hate.”

Joshua Newton writes from India.