Background: India – a huge country

India is the largest democracy in the world. With over 1.3 billion people, it will soon have overtaken China as the country with the largest population in the world.

India is a country full of contrasts: on the one hand, the high-tech industry, on the other hand, the villages where there is still no running water. The huge metropoles such as Delhi, Calcutta or Mumbai with millions and millions of inhabitants stand in contrast to some rather sparsely populated rural areas. It is not strange for a 5-star luxury hotel to be just a stone’s throw away from the slums.

For centuries, India was ruled by Turkish-Mongolian conquerors whom came into the country from 1000 AD. Many Indians were forcibly converted to Islam under the Muslim rulers. The empire of the Great Mughals from the 16th century onwards was the height of Muslim rule in India. The Mughal Mughal Shah Jahan built the well-known Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal.

The increasing European influence heralded the end of Muslim rule in India from the 18th century. Eventually all of India became a British colony. Mahatma Ghandi’s nonviolent resistance eventually led India to independence in 1947. At the same time the country was divided: into an Islamic part (Pakistan and Bangladesh) and a part dominated by Hinduism: today’s India.

Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist BJP has been Indian Prime Minister since 2014. The declared goal of the Hindu nationalists is to make India a purely Hindu country. This leads to discrimination and threats against the Muslim and Christian minority in India and also hinders the work of the staff of the Carmel Mission in this country.

Mission in India

When India is mentioned, one does not necessarily immediately think of Islam, but rather of Hinduism. In fact, Hinduism is the dominant religion in India. But there is a sizable Muslim minority in this country. In absolute terms, India is actually the country with the third most Muslims in the world. About 200 million Muslims live here. Therefore India is also an important area of work for Call of Hope. In the north, in the middle and in the south of India our employees are working tirelessly to reach the Muslims of India with the good news of Jesus Christ as well as to help those in need.