On April 12, six Christian families were evicted from their homes in a village in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. The families had embraced Christianity seven years ago but had faced increasing pressure from the community recently to return to Hinduism. The village council, led by the Sarpanch, held a Gram Sabha (autonomous village council) meeting to decide the fate of the 13 families who had converted.
In this meeting, six of the families declared they would remain Christian for life, while the other seven chose to return to Hinduism to avoid further conflict. The village council unanimously decided to expel the six families who insisted on staying Christian, viewing their conversion as a violation of village traditions and social structure.
The families were forcibly removed from their homes, and their belongings were loaded onto a tractor-trailer and dumped in a nearby forest. Left without shelter, food, or water, the families now face severe hardship in the forest.
This incident comes amid ongoing tensions in the state, with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Indian National Congress accusing each other of encouraging illegal religious conversions. While both parties have made claims regarding religious conversions, they have not provided evidence to support these allegations. In the past, such claims have led to attacks on Christians by Hindu extremists.
Christian leaders have condemned the eviction, calling it a violation of human rights, and are urging authorities to intervene to protect the rights of the affected families.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com.