Christians Denied Burial Rights Again in Chhattisgarh Amid Rising Intolerance
Raipur: In yet another disturbing incident of religious intolerance in Modi’s India, residents of Jewartala village in Balod district of Chhattisgarh state denied a burial site to a local Christian man, Raman Sahu, forcing his grieving family to seek an alternate location to lay him to rest.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the incident underscores the growing hostility and discrimination faced by the Christian community in the BJP-ruled state. It comes just days after a similar case in Kodekurse of Kanker district, where villagers refused to allow the burial of another Christian man, Manoj Nishad. His family had been moving from village to village for three days looking for a place to bury his body but unable to find one due to opposition from villagers.
Earlier in July, there was communal tension in Kanker district after villagers in Jamgaon vandalised a church over the burial of another Christian, Somlal Rathore.
In the latest case, after Sahu died in a hospital in Raipur, his family brought his body to Jewartala for burial. However, the villagers blocked the funeral, and despite police intervention, refused to allow the rites. Sahu’s family was eventually compelled to bury him in another village.
Arun Pannalal, president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, condemned the repeated denial of burial rights as a grave violation of constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and human dignity, criticizing authorities for their failure to uphold the law.
Early this year, the Indian Supreme Court had to intervene in a similar case, ordering the burial of a Christian man from Bastar’s Chhindawada village, nearly 20 km away from his home, after his body lay in a morgue for 20 days due to opposition from villagers.
These repeated incidents reflect a growing pattern of marginalization and persecution of Christians in Chhattisgarh, one of the Indian states witnessing a sharp rise in communal polarisation and targeted hostility against religious minorities.
