United Christian Forum urges Centre to cancel Chhattisgarh bandh against Christian community
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The United Christian Forum (UCF) has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking urgent intervention to cancel a proposed “Chhattisgarh Bandh” scheduled for December 24, 2025, warning that the call targets the Christian community and could trigger violence and social unrest.
In its letter dated December 23, the forum expressed concern over what it described as rising hostility and targeted attacks against Christians across India. UCF said the bandh, allegedly called by certain groups in Chhattisgarh, risks damaging social harmony and fostering fear and insecurity among religious minorities.
Citing data compiled by the organisation, UCF said it recorded 834 incidents of violence against Christians in 2024, averaging nearly 70 incidents per month. As of November 2025, it claimed to have documented 706 incidents targeting Christians or people professing faith in Jesus Christ.
According to the forum, allegations of forced or fraudulent religious conversions were frequently cited as the trigger for such attacks. Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of incidents, with 157 cases in Chhattisgarh and 184 in Uttar Pradesh till November 2025.
The letter highlighted burial-related disputes, particularly in tribal regions, alleging that Christians were often denied burial space or forced to exhume bodies.
UCF stated that 23 burial-related incidents were recorded in 2025, including 19 in Chhattisgarh, two in Jharkhand, and one each in Odisha and West Bengal. In 2024, the forum said it documented around 40 such incidents, with 30 reported from Chhattisgarh, six from Jharkhand, and others from Bihar and Karnataka.
Specific incidents cited included an alleged attempt by a mob on December 15, 2025, to exhume a body buried under Christian rites in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district. The letter also referred to a burial denial in Balod district in November 2025 and an incident in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district in April 2025, where a body was exhumed and burnt after the family refused to renounce Christianity.
UCF also referred to a report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka, which alleged police collusion with Hindutva groups, disruption of Christian prayer meetings, and registration of cases under Sections 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code.
The forum noted that freedom of religion laws — commonly referred to as anti-conversion laws — are currently in force in 12 Indian states, and alleged that these laws disproportionately target religious minorities. It cited an analysis by Article 14 of FIRs registered under conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh, stating that many were based on third-party complaints.
The letter also mentioned recent incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh involving arrests, demolitions, and police action during prayer meetings and Christmas celebrations.
Expressing concern over the proposed bandh, UCF urged the Union Home Minister to intervene immediately to cancel the Chhattisgarh Bandh, stating that such calls violate constitutional values and threaten dignity, safety, and communal harmony.