INDIAN MANDALA Chhattisgarh, eight villages vote: Christians out

Local councils have forced around a hundred Christians to leave or renounce their faith. The police did not intervene immediately and at least 40 people were forced to take refuge in churches after their property was destroyed. According to some organizations, this year there has been an increase in violence against the Christian community in this Indian state.

Sukma () – Leave the village or renounce being Christian: this is the choice facing a hundred faithful in the tribal majority Indian state of Chhattisgarh. On November 17, eight panchayats (local councils) in Sukma district passed a resolution prohibiting Christians from remaining in their territories. They were told that otherwise their properties and fields would be looted.

The sarpanch (village head) of Michwar, one of the eight villages involved (Dabba, Doodhiras, Gonderas, Gurli, Jagadlanar, Kundanpal, Kunna), also upheld the measure, declaring that the decisions taken by the panchayats invalidated the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion and belief under Article 25.

The next day, the Christians filed a complaint at the Gadiras police station, accompanied by audio evidence documenting the accusations of the Michwar sarpanch. But the officers refused to register an initial information report (FIR), necessary to launch an investigation. Instead, they asked to be escorted to the camps. When they arrived at the place, a mob of about 1,500 people had already looted the Christian crops. The police left the area without offering any help, Christians later reported.

On November 19, the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum (CCF) brought the matter to the notice of the Sukma district authorities, who ordered the complaint to be registered. But, as of November 21, the request had still not been processed. Meanwhile, about 40 people, forced to abandon their villages due to the looting of their lands, have found refuge in a church in Michwar.

“These incidents do not occur only in Sukma, but affect Christians in many districts,” explains Father Thomas Vadakumkara, from the diocese of Jagadalpur, to questions from . «Fundamental rights are systematically denied: burying the dead, staying on one’s own land and cultivating one’s fields. “This discrimination violates human dignity and violates the principles established in the Indian Constitution.”

According to the Delhi-based United Christian Forum (UCF), there has been an increase in violence and discrimination against Christians in at least 23 of India’s 28 states. Until October of this year, 673 incidents of violence against the Christian community were recorded. The state of Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of hate crimes, with 182 incidents, followed by Chhattisgarh, with 139 cases.