Christians in Remote Indian Village Attacked for Resisting Forced Conversions

(ZENIT News / Mumbai, 06.29.2025).- In the forested hinterlands of Odisha’s Malkangiri district, a violent episode has once again underscored the fragile status of religious minorities in India. On Saturday, June 21, a group of Protestant Christians returning from a church service in the village of Kotamateru were brutally assaulted by a mob allegedly angered by the Christians’ refusal to renounce their faith. Eight people were injured, some seriously, in an attack that local leaders say lasted for hours.

While police officials have attempted to downplay the incident as a personal dispute between siblings of different faiths, Christian leaders paint a very different picture—one of growing hostility, systemic marginalization, and a calculated campaign to pressure vulnerable communities into abandoning Christianity.

“This wasn’t just a family quarrel,” said Pallab Lima, state secretary of the Rashtriya Christian Morcha. “It was an orchestrated attempt to coerce an entire group of believers back into the fold of Hinduism, using violence as leverage.”

According to witnesses, the assailants were armed with axes and other weapons and allegedly linked to Bajrang Dal, a hardline Hindu nationalist group. Though the organization has denied responsibility, it has acknowledged “spontaneous reactions” from Hindus opposed to what it calls forced Christian conversions.

The local Christian community is unconvinced. “This has been building up for months,” said Lima. “Activists have been issuing threats, telling people to change their religion. Our people stood firm—and now they’re in the hospital.”

The victims are currently receiving treatment at the district hospital. Many, leaders say, are too terrified to return home.

This is not the first time Odisha has been the site of religious violence. The state, formerly known as Orissa, was the setting for the infamous 2008 anti-Christian pogroms that left dozens dead and thousands displaced. With Hindus comprising over 93% of the state’s population and Christians making up less than 3%, tensions have long simmered, particularly in impoverished tribal areas like Malkangiri.

According to Fr. Sushil Kumar Gouda, a Catholic priest and former head of social services in the region, the situation is worsened by deep poverty and geographic isolation.

“Being Christian here means being at the margins,” he said. “You’re excluded, boycotted, harassed. And all this is encouraged by local right-wing elements who stir up fear and resentment.”

He notes that the region borders Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh—states that have also seen a rise in anti-Christian violence—and sits in an area prone to unrest from Maoist insurgents. “For these tribal Christians,” he said, “faith is both a source of strength and a reason for suffering.”

Sunday saw a peaceful protest by local Christians outside the superintendent of police’s office. A formal complaint has been filed, though few in the community expect accountability. The official police line continues to center on a dispute between two brothers—one Hindu, one Christian—while the broader religious dimension is left unacknowledged.

“It’s easier to call it a domestic matter than to face the reality of religious persecution,” said Bijoy Pusuru, a local Christian leader. “But we know what we’re facing.”

Meanwhile, reports have surfaced of a “Sanskriti Bachao Abhiyan” (“Save Culture Campaign”) active in the region, allegedly intended to pressure Christians to convert. The phrase echoes the cultural nationalism promoted by groups like the RSS and its affiliates, which enjoy strong ties with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Since the BJP came to power nationally in 2014, religious minorities in India—including Christians and Muslims—have reported a dramatic uptick in harassment, arrests, and attacks. Laws aimed at curbing religious conversions have proliferated in several states, and accusations of proselytism often serve as pretexts for mob violence or police action.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly raised alarms about India’s deteriorating religious freedom. Yet, as the Kotamateru incident shows, remote rural communities remain especially vulnerable, with little media attention or legal recourse.

Still, despite intimidation and violence, the faith of the tribal Christians in Odisha appears unshaken.

“They have nothing,” said Fr. Gouda, “but their courage is remarkable. They continue to gather, to pray, to believe. Their suffering has become a kind of testimony.”

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