It has been a week since the alleged demolition of 11 houses belonging to families belonging to minority communities in three villages of Bastar division of Chhattisgarh. Complaints had been presented by Christian ancestral families against ancestral townspeople during 22–23 September, yet no FIR has been documented up till now. More than 20 out of 40 people from 13 Christian tribal families live in Kakrabeda, Singanpur and Tiliyabeda villages.

The district administration described the situation as “peaceful”, with extra police powers deployed for seven days in five towns, around 20 km from the Kondagaon District Collectorate.

District Collector Pushpendra Meena said that the situation is peaceful and that the families who remain will return as per their convenience. Meena further added that both sides have agreed to maintain peace. But as a precaution, policemen have been deployed.

The presence of police in the village of Kakrabeda was indicated by a police bus parked behind a closed anganwadi, which had loosely barbed wire around a pillar. It also had a camouflage uniform kept to dry.

Bastar IGP Sundarraj P said that the circumstance is delicate and that they need to proceed cautiously. He also added that people should stay away from any untoward occurrences. Most villages in Bastar have few Christian families. While friction and skirmishes have occurred in the past, this is the first time homes have been vandalized and that families have left villages.

Shivram Poyam (27), an inhabitant of Kakrabeda, was going to caution the police on the evening of September 22, hours before the occurrence. He said that he knew that when the villagers started gathering, something dangerous was about to happen. He went to the police station and asked the police to come to the village. The nearest police station is 18 km from the village.

Seven houses were damaged in Kakrabeda, including Poyam. He further said that the vegetable crop field was crowded by 500 people during the violence. Poyam also said that his mother and wife were in the house when the mob entered and broke their utensils. He added on a note of pain that a man kicked his wife out of their house. His family had to flee into the jungles.

Poyam added that the villagers believe that by following Christianity, his family and other such converts have defiled the rites and customs of the village. He alleged that his family has now been identified as untouchables. Poyam further stressed that the villagers want them to leave Christianity or the village. He said that despite appealing to the police, no FIR was filed. He was told that it would be very dangerous for them to file FIR.  Poyam feels that he cannot go back to his village. Out of the 11 families having a place with the group in Kakrabeda, 20 individuals have left the town.

Another resident Bhaktin (49) said the problem with followers of “Ishu Dharma” (Jesus’ faith) was that they did not participate in village rituals. According to him, on the night of the incident, an argument broke out, after which some Christian families locked themselves in their homes. That led to the deployment of police.

Vijay Soori (32), a resident of Singanpur Gram Panchayat, 6 km from Kakadabeda, disagreed with this claim. He claimed that after he started following Christianity, he had invited the village elders for his wedding. He added that not a single person came to his wedding hinting at ex-communication by the villagers. He said that on the contrary of the villagers’ claims he was fined heavily for the ‘polluting’ incident of conversion.

Soori alleged that if he had been of any other faith, the authorities would have taken their issues and complaints seriously. He added with pain that he cannot go back to his village, but he hopes that his children would be able to grow up without any fear.

A similar incident was reported on September 23 in Singanpur. Five houses were supposedly damaged by a similar horde in two towns under the gram panchayat, even as police attempted to control the situation. Soori left his house in Singanpur as soon as his house was attacked. He added that he had called the police station, but no one responded. Policemen reportedly tried to control the crowd for over an hour. Video of the incident showed people entering the house while police officers were asking them to leave.

Pointing to a house, which belongs to Phool Singh Poyam (32), who identifies himself as a Christian, villagers said that the affected families were locked inside it. Phool Singh Poyam added that he does not know whether his family has something to eat. He alleged that due to the chaos he was separated from his family who are now trapped inside their home.

Sarpanch Surajwati Netam of Chhapavand village, under which Kakrabeda falls, said that she was unaware of the incident, which took place 3 km from her home.

According to members of Sarva Adivasi Samaj, a tribal body consisting of small groups like Gondwana Samaj, the issue is politically motivated. A member of Bastar’s Sarva Adivasi Samaj said that the presence of the Ultima group is possible only by making enemies out of neighbors. Vinod Nagvanshi, another member of Sarva Adivasi Samaj added that efforts are being made to polarize the tribal community for political gains.