Several Christian families in India’s Chhattisgarh state suffer from lack of access to food and other basic necessities due to a “social boycott” that started in November 2020.
The Christians have been prohibited from receiving food rations for their refusal to join the local tribal religion, said a report by the group International Christian Concern (ICC).
“Christians … are paying a heavy price for following Jesus,” village leader Bhima Sodi was quoted by ICC’s report.
“They are accused of practicing a foreign faith and leaving their ancestral tribal culture and tradition,” he said, adding that “there is continual pressure for these families to return to the tribal religion.”
He said a family reconverted recently because of pressure. “The boycott affects our livelihood and we even have endured physical abuse,” said Sodi.
Social boycotts, include cutting off access to common facilities in a village like water sources, transport and not employing those targeted.
On Nov. 24, 2020, Hindu nationalists attacked Christian families in the village of Ekpal village in Sukma district and reportedly stole ration cards from the Christian families.
Without the ration cards the villagers could not purchase government subsidized food.
The Christians reported the incident to authorities and had their ration cards returned after two months.
Village leaders, however, refused to buy Tendu leaves, the tribe’s main source of income, sold by Christians.
Since the attack in November, “social boycotts” have been used by local radicals to pressure the Christians into recanting their faith.
Across Chhattisgarh, “social boycotts” have been used to persecute Christians, said ICC.
In 2014, shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party rose to power, over 50 villages in the Bastar District of Chhattisgarh passed resolutions outlawing the practice of Christianity and imposed devastating “social boycotts” on hundreds of Christian families.
Christian leaders have earlier asked the government to enact a law to ban the social prohibitions.