Chhattisgarh: Supreme Court intervenes to prevent exhumation of Christians

A ruling has called for a halt to the forced exhumation of the bodies of tribal people who converted to Christianity, which often meets with opposition from villagers. Similar incidents have also occurred in Orissa, where a family was denied burial of their son in the village cemetery.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that there will be no further forced exhumations of bodies in a village in Chhattisgarh, after complaints from a minority rights organization revealed that the bodies of some converted tribal Christians had been dug up and transferred to distant locations against the wishes of their families.

The panel of judges Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N.V. Anjaria ruled that “no further exhumation of already buried bodies will be allowed,” asking the Chhattisgarh government to respond within four weeks to the petition filed by the Chhattisgarh Association for Justice and Equality.

According to the association, local police prevented the burials of Christians based on a previous interlocutory order issued by the Supreme Court. In January 2025, the judges had not reached a unanimous position on the burial of tribal Christians who had converted in their villages of origin. This ambiguity was used to prevent burials in village communal land and, in some cases, to allow law enforcement agencies to exhume bodies that had already been buried and transfer them dozens of kilometers away.

Lawyer Colin Gonsalves, representing the Chhattisgarh Association for Justice and Equality, spoke before the Court about “large-scale exhumations” carried out without informing families. In one case, the body of the mother of a member of the organization was removed and buried elsewhere, despite the woman's expressed wish to be buried in her own village. In another incident, the body of a tribal woman's husband was exhumed and transferred about 50 kilometers from its place of origin.

At the root of the tensions is the argument that those who have converted to Christianity cannot be buried in village grounds, but only in officially recognized Christian cemeteries. This position is contested as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

For Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur, president of the Catholic Bishops' Council of Chhattisgarh, the court's decision is “only a relief and not yet justice,” but it is nonetheless “a positive step.”

“The burial of tribal Christians in their villages has never been a problem,” he told AsiaNews. “Only in recent years have some politically motivated groups begun to raise illogical arguments against these burials. It is a position contrary to our Constitution and very dangerous for the unity and integrity of India.”

The archbishop highlighted growing restrictions on the freedoms of religious minorities, citing other worrying signs, such as the recent ban imposed by the Bihar government on the sale of meat outdoors and without a license in urban areas, a measure that he says raises questions about the economic and social impact on some communities. “The freedoms of minorities are being progressively restricted,” he said.

Tensions over burials are not limited to Chhattisgarh. Last week, in the eastern state of Orissa, a Christian family was banned from burying a 13-year-old boy in the cemetery of the village of Kapena, in the district of Nabarangpur.

The boy's father, Krutibas Santa, said that after his son died following a long illness, some villagers blocked access to the burial ground. Only after nearly 20 hours, and thanks to the intervention of the district administration and the police, was the family able to proceed with the funeral, but only on privately owned land.

According to family members, Krutibas was forced to sign a statement pledging not to place religious symbols on the grave and to ensure peace in the village, while some residents warned the family to renounce their faith or leave the village.

This incident follows another on January 25, when a group of people interrupted prayers at a local church, threatening about 30 Christian tribal families.

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