Multiple tribal Christian families from Chitalnar village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district have reportedly been assaulted and forced to abandon their homes following pressure from local Hindutva groups. Adding to the displacement, the local gram panchayat has issued a formal notice banning the families from returning to the village.
According to local reports, harassment targeting Christian residents in Chitalnar intensified in March 2026, when a mob assaulted around ten families during a "ghar wapsi" campaign aimed at converting them to Hinduism. Two individuals required hospitalization following the incident. Despite written complaints filed by the victims immediately after the attack, community organizers report that police failed to intervene or take punitive action, ultimately forcing the affected families to seek refuge in Sukma town.
In July 2026, the Gram Panchayat of Chitalnar submitted an official document to the Station House Officer at Puspal Police Station formally declaring that Christian families were barred from re-entering the village. The letter, signed by the Upsarpanch and backed by the Gram Sabha, claimed the families had voluntarily departed after refusing to renounce Christianity. The notice explicitly stated that the village administration would not permit individuals of the Christian faith to return and disclaimed responsibility for any potential violence should they attempt to do so. Civil rights observers noted that the document, which police received and stamped without initiating legal action, represents an unprecedented instance of a formal civic body issuing a written order endorsing religious exclusion.
Activists monitoring the situation attribute the ongoing campaign to the Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM), an organization established in 2006 with ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram. Led in the region by a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, the group actively campaigns across Chhattisgarh's tribal belts to frame Christian conversions as a threat to indigenous identity. JSM advocates for constitutional amendments to strip Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation benefits from Adivasis who convert to Christianity or Islam. The group recently escalated its efforts through a massive national rally in New Delhi in May 2026, after which its representatives met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to present their demands.
Local opposition figures, including Narendra Bhawani of the Chhattisgarh Yuva Manch and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have threatened public demonstrations outside police facilities if law enforcement continues to delay taking concrete action regarding the assault complaints and the discriminatory panchayat order.