Archbishop Andrew Thazhath of Kerala has drawn criticism from lay groups in Kerala for claiming in an interview last week that a banned Islamist group was posing a threat to the Christian community by promoting sectarianism.

Thazhath, the outgoing president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, told the church-run Deepika newspaper that the Popular Front of India had “planned to break up” the Catholic' church’s Syro-Malabar section.

His remarks have drawn the ire of lay groups, which maintain that it is Hindutva that poses the main threat not just to Christians but also to India’s multireligious character.

Almaaya Munnettam , Catholic group in Kerala, has demanded evidence for Thazhath’s claims, warning that such contentions would foster communal discord ahead of the Kerala assembly elections expected to he held in April.

The archbishop’s statements echo a pattern where sections of the church have adopted narratives aligned with the rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata Party, framing Muslims as threats.

From a national perspective, Muslims and Christians face parallel persecution from Hindutva groups. There are almost no documented cases of organised Muslim violence against Christians.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom confirms this.

In its 2025 annual report, the commission documented persistent attacks on minorities in India: over 98% of the 1,165 recorded incidents in early 2024 targeted Muslims. Christians,........

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