Hindu extremist assault on church in Kanker District, Chhattisgarh state, India in December 2025. (Screenshot from video)
NEW DELHI (Morning Star Information) – Tribal villagers in India have prevented Christians from burying the physique of a girl who died on Feb. 24, saying it could defile their land and deities.
Because the physique of tribal Christian Sambai Mandavi nonetheless lay in a hospital mortuary, villagers demanded her household bear compelled reconversion to Hinduism as situation for burial, sources mentioned. Days after India’s Supreme Court docket ordered a halt to forcible exhumations of tribal Christians’ our bodies in Chhattisgarh state, the villagers have threatened to exhume the physique whether it is buried.
Mandavi was mentioned to be 34 when she died on Feb. 24 as a consequence of respiratory and cardiac points. Residents have prevented her husband, Kamlesh Mandavi, from burying her physique within the village’s public cemetery or on his non-public land in Amodi village, Kanker District, Chhattisgarh state.
Native villagers have additionally threatened bodily assault and property injury. They declare Christian burial rites would “defile” their land and deities, in response to a press assertion from the Progressive Christian Alliance (PCA) on Feb. 26. With the physique remaining within the mortuary at Durgkondal Hospital, Kamlesh Mandavi has formally complained to the District Collector.
“This incident happens simply days after the Supreme Court docket issued an interim order halting exhumations,” the PCA assertion mentioned. “But, the persistence of such threats underscores a blatant disregard for judicial directives.”
The Rev. Simon Digbal Tandi, coordinator of PCA, known as for fast intervention by state authorities.
The Supreme Court docket on Feb. 18 had issued an interim order directing that “no additional exhumation of buried our bodies shall be permitted” whereas listening to a Public Curiosity Litigation filed by the Chhattisgarh Affiliation for Justice and Equality (CAJE). Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria additionally issued discover to the Chhattisgarh authorities, returnable in 4 weeks.
Systematic Intimidation
The Sambai Mandavi case isn’t remoted. A day after the Supreme Court docket order, the United Christian Discussion board (UCF) launched knowledge displaying 23 burial-related incidents in 2025 alone, a part of what they describe as systematic intimidation throughout tribal areas.
At a press convention in New Delhi on Feb. 19, UCF officers introduced video footage of a Christian lady’s physique being exhumed, wrapped in a white shroud and positioned on the bottom as villagers stood round it. The incidents mirror a recurring pattern in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand states.
The UCF officers detailed particular instances. In Benur village in Bastar District, the stays of a tribal Christian man buried for greater than 20 years have been exhumed, cremated and scattered. In Kanker District, father of Rajman Salam, an elected village headman who’s a follower of Christ, was buried on household land. Shortly after, a mob claiming the land belonged to an area deity tried exhumation – invoking the PESA Act, which grants tribal communities autonomous governance – although Salam’s father was not a Christian.
Households have described discovering empty graves or being compelled to journey miles to pay respects to their family members, turning mourning into a protracted ordeal, in response to PCA documentation.
UCF Nationwide President Michael Williams described the courtroom’s order as “a beacon of hope” however known as on the state authorities to make sure full implementation. John Dayal, UCF spokesperson, mentioned the Supreme Court docket’s order was a obligatory first step, however that interim aid was not justice.
“The Chhattisgarh authorities’s calculated silence speaks volumes,” Dayal informed Morning Star Information. “When the state refuses to defend constitutional burial rights, it successfully sanctions grave desecration.”
He pointed to an earlier order by a bench headed by Justice Nagarathna that might not be applied beneath mob strain.
“Nobody was charged with contempt of courtroom or coercion,” he mentioned. “This isn’t nearly dignity in dying; it’s about whether or not tribal Christians belong to their very own villages.”
The Public Curiosity Litigation argued by senior lawyer Colin Gonsalves alleged that tribal Christians have been being forcibly prevented from burying their deceased in village burial grounds, although different communities have been free to take action. Our bodies already buried have been exhumed and relocated to distant locations with out households’ information.
The petition described how burial grounds historically accessible to all villagers have been being informally restricted alongside spiritual strains. In a number of cases, households have been allegedly pressured to desert Christian burial practices as a precondition for burial inside the village.
“Exhumation and compelled reburial of our bodies at distant locations, typically over 50 kilometers away, constitutes merciless, inhuman and degrading remedy,” the petition acknowledged, referring to constitutional ensures of equality and the best to life with dignity.
Police Complicity
The petition raised severe considerations about police conduct. Officers regularly failed to guard households dealing with threats and as an alternative inspired compromise.
“The function of the Chhattisgarh police could be very communal,” the petition acknowledged. “The physique was forcibly taken out of the villages to a so-called designated place by the police and administrations.”
Many pastors who carried out burial rites have been arrested and despatched to jail. The denial of burial rights was typically accompanied by threats of violence, compelled conversions and harassment.
Tribal Id Underneath Risk
UCF coordinator A.C. Michael warned that campaigns in a number of states looking for to take away Christian Adivasis (indigenous tribal peoples) from Scheduled Tribe standing, which supplies indigenous communities with constitutional protections and reserved advantages, have been instantly linked to burial disputes.
“The Structure of India doesn’t tie tribal id to faith,” Michael mentioned.
Progressive Christian Alliance, a companion group of CAJE that filed the petition, mentioned native teams together with Bastar District Rural Christian Service Committee (Bastar Jila Grameen Masihi Seva Samiti) and the Tribal Christian Service and Training Welfare Committee (Janjati Masihi Seva Evam Shaikshanik Kalyan Samiti) in Bastar have been documenting violations on the bottom.
PCA famous that incidents focusing on spiritual minorities in Chhattisgarh have risen sharply since 2005, with Christians who belong to Scheduled Tribes dealing with assaults regardless of constitutional protections beneath the Fifth Schedule, constitutional provisions defending tribal land and governance rights.
Dayal mentioned the burial disputes have been linked to a bigger sample.
“Exhuming our bodies is the logical endpoint of a marketing campaign to delegitimize Christian tribal id and assert ideological supremacy of native thugs impressed or skilled by the Sangh,” he mentioned, referring to Hindu nationalist umbrella group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliated teams. “Twenty-three documented incidents in 2025 alone, that is systematic, not spontaneous.”
Ghar Wapsi Connection
The Rev. Dr. Akhilesh Edgar, convener of Progressive Christian Alliance based mostly in Chhattisgarh, mentioned the denial of burial rights was instantly linked to Ghar Wapsi (compelled reconversion) campaigns.
“These parts kind a coordinated Hindutva [Hindu nationalist] agenda, with burial denials as entry factors for Ghar Wapsi and delisting as long-term disenfranchisement,” he informed Morning Star Information.
Edgar mentioned teams just like the Tribal Safety Discussion board (Janjati Suraksha Manch) have been arguing that Christian converts forfeit “tribal id” and will lose Scheduled Tribe advantages.
“This financial risk enhances burial denials by linking spiritual option to lack of protections beneath Schedule V of the Structure,” he mentioned. “Burial disputes are invoked to ‘show’ detachment from traditions, justifying delisting.”
Burial denials typically served as leverage for compelled reconversion, Edgar mentioned.
“Mobs situation burial permission on reconversion,” he mentioned. “Quite a few cases of Ghar Wapsi and violence have been observed with burials weaponized to power compliance.”
Campaigns to delist Christian tribals have been express, he mentioned.
“JSM rallies in Bastar demanded delisting, with leaders like Bhojraj Nag stating converts can not take the advantages of Adivasis and refuse to comply with the custom,” he informed Morning Star Information. “No comparable calls for apply to Hindu-adopting tribals, exposing bias.”
The concern of dropping Scheduled Tribes standing was being weaponized: “This creates concern – distant Christian burials might problem ST claims, pushing reconversion to retain standing.”
Edgar traced the roots of Ghar Wapsi to RSS-affiliated efforts courting again to the Nineteen Fifties with actions by RSS tribal welfare wing Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram to counter Christian missions and “reclaim” converts.
Alarming Knowledge on Violence
In 2025, the UCF recorded greater than 700 incidents of anti-Christian violence, disproportionately impacting Dalit Christians – members of previously “untouchable” communities on the backside of India’s caste hierarchy – ladies and tribal communities. Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh accounted for almost half of all violence in opposition to Christians, in response to UCF.
Regardless of the size of violence, accountability remained largely absent. Solely 45 police First Data Experiences (FIRs) have been filed in opposition to perpetrators out of almost 580 recorded incidents in 2025, leaving 93 p.c of instances remaining unpunished. Conversely, greater than 230 FIRs had been filed in opposition to Christians, typically beneath “anti-conversion” legal guidelines prohibiting forcible or fraudulent conversion.
The UCF named organizations akin to Hindu nationalist teams Bajrang Dal, Vishva Hindu Parishad and Janjati Suraksha Manch as being repeatedly talked about in complaints from affected areas.
Requires Reform
Edgar mentioned that whereas the Supreme Court docket order was a constructive step, it fell in need of delivering full justice as exhumations mirrored broader patterns of discrimination.
He known as for amendments to Chhattisgarh’s Freedom of Faith Act, which he mentioned was being misused to harass tribal Christians.
“Human rights teams suggest repealing these legal guidelines or including safeguards in opposition to abuse, as they disproportionately goal Christian minorities whereas ignoring voluntary conversions,” he mentioned.
Edgar additionally known as for clarification that spiritual conversion doesn’t forfeit Scheduled Tribe standing.
“Over 23 burial incidents in 2025 alone underscore systemic violence by Hindutva teams like RSS and VHP, typically with police inaction,” Edgar mentioned, calling for prosecution of perpetrators beneath anti-discrimination legal guidelines.
Advocating for enhanced protections beneath the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and mandating widespread or designated burial grounds statewide with funding and oversight, he additionally known as for assist and rehabilitation for displaced households, together with authorized support, financial support and safety from social boycotts.
Implementation of reforms would require political will to counter rising Hindu nationalist influences, making certain constitutional supremacy over majoritarian customs, Edgar mentioned.
The UCF urged the governments of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to implement compensation and rehabilitation plans for displaced tribal Christians. It known as for disciplinary motion in opposition to police personnel who fail to guard spiritual minorities. The group demanded that each village council (gram panchayat) preserve religion-neutral “widespread graveyards” accessible to all residents, and appointment of district-level officers to ensure fast police safety throughout funerals the place tensions could come up.
Human Price
Lawyer Tehmina Arora underlined the human price on the press convention. Recalling the Ramesh Baghel case, she mentioned his household had buried their useless in the identical village for many years, but he was stopped from burying his father there.
“For the time being when a household is most susceptible, they’re informed, ‘This isn’t your house,’” she mentioned.
The Chhattisgarh authorities has not but responded publicly to the Supreme Court docket discover or to the allegations. The matter was scheduled for listening to 4 weeks from Feb. 18.
The petition seeks a declaration that each one individuals, irrespective of faith, caste or Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Different Backward Courses standing, are free to bury their deceased within the villages the place they reside. It additional seeks that each one gram panchayats be directed to demarcate particular areas for burial of all communities, and that the state uphold secularism and fraternity by selling, to the extent potential, widespread graveyards for all communities.
The hostile tone of the Nationwide Democratic Alliance authorities, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Occasion, in opposition to non-Hindus has emboldened Hindu extremists in a number of components of the nation to assault Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took energy in Could 2014, spiritual rights advocates say.
India ranked 12th on Christian assist group Open Doorways’ 2026 World Watch Checklist of the nations the place it’s most troublesome to be a Christian, up from 31st in 2013 earlier than Modi got here to energy.
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