Christians expelled from Indian village for refusing to convert
The two Christian families had to leave their village after they were denied water and electricity
Updated: April 01, 2025 05:33 AM GMT
Two Christian families that refused to renounce their faith were forced to leave their Hindu-majority tribal village in eastern India’s Odisha state after they were denied basic facilities such as water.
Gangadhar Santa, the head of one family, told UCA News that both families complained to the police about Hindus cutting off their electricity and denying them water from the village well.
But the police did not help, he said.
On March 29, all eight members of the two families left their ancestral homes in Siunaguda, a village in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district.
The village, some 550 kilometers southwest of the state capital, Bhubaneswar, had three Christian families belonging to Blessing Youth Mission, a neo-Christian Church.
They lived alongside 130 Hindu families in the village.
One of the three families had already left Christianity in early March when villagers insisted they do so to bury a deceased member of the family.
Santa told UCA News on March 29 that they were small-time farmers but had to leave their land and home. His family moved 40 kilometers away with children younger than ten years old.
The other family moved to another village roughly 20 kilometers away.
The 28-year-old man said the police not only failed to assist the Christians but also urged them to give in to the villagers’ demands to accept the Hindu faith.
“We refused to convert to the Hindu faith, and we have a strong belief that Lord Jesus Christ will protect us,” he said.
When contacted, Narayan Dakua, a Hindu tribal leader in Siunaguda who allegedly led the anti-Christian campaign, did not take the call.
Santa said Christians in the village were also not considered for government welfare schemes, such as housing assistance, despite being eligible.
Their land was also not measured during an official demarcation process, lest they lose their ownership certificates. “This is the extent of harassment and discrimination we face,” Santa said.
Ajaya Suna, in charge of the Blessing Youth Mission in Nabarangpur district, said Christians are facing “hate and hostility” from Hindu groups in different parts of Odisha.
“Hindus prevent Christians from attending village functions; government documents are denied them; and they are prevented from buying groceries from village shops. All because they are Christians,” he said.
Father Ajay Kumar Singh, a lawyer and member of the Odisha Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests, said it was unfortunate that the state administration and the police had failed to take action despite complaints of violations, intimidation, and harassment.
“The dictate of the dominant Hindus today is that if you want to live in our village, you have to become a Hindu,” said the Catholic priest of Cuttack–Bhubaneswar archdiocese, which covers the region.
Singh said intolerance toward Christians has increased since last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-leaning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state.
The BJP, which has also run the federal government since 2014, supports the idea of turning India into a nation of Hindu dominance and opposes Christian mission works and conversions.
