Christians across India have staged a day of protest against what church leaders describe as a wave of persecution and violence.

Delhi's Roman Catholic Archbishop ,Alan de Lastic,said the action was a peaceful gesture to mark the frustration of India's twenty-three million Christians with the failure of the police and government to protect them from attacks and discrimination -- mainly by Hindu extremist groups.

Christian activists suggest that there's been more than a ten fold increase in religiously motivated attacks against Christians recently -- the most infamous being the rape of several nuns in the state of Mahdra Pradesh, in September.

Hindu extremist groups, some affiliated with the government, accuse Christian missions of converting Hindus to Christianity.