CHHATTISGARH, India (BP) – At least 40 members of New Bethesda Jesus Tribal Ministry in Michwar Village remain sheltered at the church two weeks after the village council banned them from the community unless they renounce their faith.
The Christians are among 100 impacted by a joint resolution adopted Nov. 17 by eight village councils in the Sukma District of Chhattisgarh State. Christians who don’t denounce Jesus must leave the villages or their fields, belongings and property will be looted, the joint resolution threatened.
When the Christians in Michwar Village tried to file a police complaint on Nov. 18, they returned home to find a mob of at least 1,500 individuals looting their agricultural harvests and demanding that they either renounce their faith or flee the village, CSW reported. Police left the area without intervening, despite the guarantee of freedom of religion or belief under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.
Mervyn Thomas, CSW founding president, condemned the village councils’ actions.
“We call on state authorities to intervene as a matter of urgency, ensuring that reparations are made for any loss of or damage to property since the resolution was passed,” Thomas said Nov. 28, “and that Christians in these villages are free to return to their lives and livelihoods without fear of further threats, harassment or intimidation.”
Chhattisgarh is also among eight states in India where anti-conversion laws are enforced, and such treatment of Christians is a common scenario in areas that oppose conversion, CSW’s India team told Baptist Press.
“Christian activities are constantly met with resistance. Today in India, particularly in rural areas, Christians are exposed to danger just for being Christians,” the India team said in written remarks. “They never know quite when an attack might happen. The triggers could even be something as simple as Christians gathering in a home for a private prayer meeting or Bible study.”
Christians sheltered at the church are receiving daily meals and provisions from local international organizations, CSW said, but India team members say a “concerning pattern … in such situations is that when families are driven away from their villages, they lose their base and have to start all over again. Many do not return due to fear of hostility or further attacks.”
No word was available on the 60 Christians in the remaining seven villages impacted by the joint resolution. And while the village councils did not threaten bodily harm, villagers are virtually free to mistreat Christians without consequence from law enforcement, CSW’s India team said. The remaining villages impacted by the joint resolution are Dabba, Doodhiras, Gonderas, Gurli, Jagadlanar, Kundanpal and Kunna.
Christians in India suffered 687 incidents of violence in 2023, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote in its 2024 Annual Report, with Christians in Chhattisgarh detained under anti-conversion laws and Hindu mobs attacking Christians, destroying and vandalizing churches and attempting to “reconvert” individuals to Hinduism. An estimated 30 people were beaten for refusing to renounce their faith.
USCIRF has long recommended the U.S. State Department name India a Country of Particular Concern for “engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA),” but the State Department has failed to do so.
About 18.5 million Christians live in India, comprising about 2.4 percent of the population, based on India’s 2011 Census, the Pew Research Center reported in 2021. Hindus comprise the majority of the religious in the country, with 615.6 million adherents, or 81 percent of the population.
In 2023, NGOs reported 687 incidents of violence against Christians, who continued to be detained under various state-level anti-conversion laws. In January, Hindu mobs attacked Christians in Chhattisgarh in eastern India, destroying and vandalizing churches and attempting to “reconvert” individuals to Hinduism. The same month, two Christians were detained without bail, accused of forcibly converting individuals of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
But Christians there are resilient, CSW said, worshipping openly albeit often in fear of reprisal. They worship in church buildings and in homes, often attending independent churches that lack the support of denominational groups.