have also been attacks on Christians in the states of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Muslims in India who convert to Christianity have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, and attacks by Muslims. In Jammu and Kashmir, a Christian convert and missionary, Bashir Tantray, was killed, by Islamic militants in broad daylight in 2006. The organisations involved in persecution of Christians have stated that the violence is an expression of "spontaneous anger" of "vanvasis" against "forcible conversion" activities undertaken by missionaries. These claims have been disputed by Christians a belief described as mythical and propaganda by Sangh Parivar; the opposing organisations objects in any case to all conversions as a "threat to national unity". Religious scholar Cyril Veliath of Sophia University stated that the attacks by Hindus on Christians were the work of individuals motivated by "disgruntled politicians or phony religious leaders" and where religion is concerned the typical Hindu is an "exceptionally amicable and tolerant person ... Hinduism as a religion could well be one of the most accommodating in the world. Rather than confront and destroy, it has a tendency to welcome and assimilate." In its controversial annual human rights reports for 1999, the United States Department of State criticised India for "increasing societal violence against Christians." The report listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious property to violence against Christians pilgrims. In 1997, 24 such incidents were reported. Recent waves of anti-conversion laws passed by some Indian states like Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh is claimed to be a gradual and continuous institutionalization of Hindutva by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour of the US State Department. Violence against Christians have seen a sharp increase of 60 percent between 2016 and 2019, according to the annual report released by Persecution Relief. The Alliance Defending Freedom data shows that in 2019 alone, a record 328 violent attacks against Christians in India were reported. North Korea North Korea is an atheist state where the public practice of religion is discouraged. The Oxford Handbook of Atheism states that "North Korea maintains a state-sanctioned and an enforced form of atheism". North Korea leads the list of the 50 countries in which Christians are persecuted the most at the present time according to a watchlist which is published by Open Doors. It is currently estimated that more than 50,000 Christians are locked inside concentration camps because of their