Persecuting Faith

The troubling signs of violence against Christian Adivasis in Chhattisgarh / Religion

- AKASH POYAM

On 27 January, the Supreme Court delivered a crucial judgment on a case involving the burial of a Dalit Christian pastor in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district. The deceased, Subhash Bhagel, was denied burial in his village. His son Ramesh, who took the matter to court, faced disappointment from both the Chhattisgarh High Court and the apex court, which ordered that the burial should take place at a Christian graveyard—over twenty kilometres away from their village.

This was not the first instance of Christian converts being denied burial in the region. In October 2022, the dead body of Dulari Padda, a Christian Adivasi, was dug up by residents of Khalebedi, a village in Kondagaon district. Similarly, in November, in Kanker district’s Kurutola village, the dead body of Chaitibai, an Adivasi woman, was also reportedly exhumed. According to a Newslaundry report, the incident took place in the presence of Bhojraj Nag, now a state legislator from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Santlal Dugga, the president of the Gondwana Samanvay Samiti’s Kondagaon chapter, among others. Both are Adivasis—one affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, while the other is part of a tribal organisation.