New Delhi: A Peoples’ Tribunal on Violence Against Christians in India, held on Monday, June 1, saw survivors, rights activists, researchers and community representatitives share evidence of social boycotts, denial of burial and worship rights, expulsions, ostracisations and numerous other forms of discrimination and exclusion they are facing across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Odisha.The people’s tribunal, organised by rights activist Harsh Mander’s Karwaan-e-Mohabbat and concerned citizens, saw survivors speak of chronic suppression of Christian religious practices in each of these states. These accounts are in addition to physical violence inflicted on members of the Christian faith, churches and institution as well as community leaders.The tribunal noted “a disturbing escalation of violence and discrimination”, as the right to freely practice the Christian faith erodes across these regions.Opening the tribunal, veteran journalist and human rights leader John Dayal situated the contemporary violence against Christians within a historical context, recalling attacks in Gujarat, the murder of Graham Staines and his two sons in Odisha and the large-scale displacement and destruction during the Kandhamal violence. He warned that constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience, religion and equal citizenship were increasingly under threat.A.C. Michael, Christian rights activist and former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, spoke about the growing normalisation of hostility towards Christian prayer meetings and places of worship. He observed that peaceful acts of worship are increasingly portrayed as threats to public order and national interest, and expressed concern over the absence of Christian representation in statutory minority institutions.Referring to attacks in Gujarat, Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, said anti-Christian mobilisations and violence are being justified through allegations of religious conversion. Accusations of conversion have also become a recurring pretext for violence, he said.Burial rights deniedA recurrent theme raised by the attendees was of restrictions on burial rights. The survivor accounts and the concerns expressed by other speakers echoed a series of incidents, reported across India, in which disputes over the burial of Christians have faced pressure to renounce their faith.In 2025, Ramesh Baghel from Chhattisgarh could bury his father, pastor Subhash Baghel, in a cemetary almost 100 km away from his village in Bastar. Residents of Chhindwada (not to be confused with Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh) refused to allow his burial and local courts ruled against Baghel. Finally, a split verdict of the Supreme Court, which was not referred to a larger bench, resolved the matter of the burial – but not the larger question of burial rights.In Raipur, Chhattisgarh, in December 2025, the family of Dhamtari resident Puniya Bai Sahu had to arrive at a “negotiated compromise” with locals as well as right-wing outfits after her death. Sahu had embraced Christianity, but her family was forced to say in writing that it had returned to the Hindu fold, Times of India reported. A Christian burial was not allowed for the deceased woman.A 15-year-old Christian boy in Koraput, Odisha, was denied a burial on his own family’s plot of land by locals – the local government’s intervention was required to finally permit this.Speaking at the people’s tribunal, Syeda Hameed, president of the National Federation of Indian Women, expressed particular concern regarding the repeated denial of burial rights, describing it as “degrading and inhumane” and stressing that the denial of dignity in death was an assault on constitutional values and human decency.File photo of members of the Christian community protesting in Raipur against attacks on churches. Credit: PTIExclusions strike deeper rootsWhile some of the dramatic incidents of violence are covered by the media, the everyday exclusions and violence Christians face – boycotts, expulsions, ostracisations, prevention of worship even within their own homes, often go unnoticed. Speakers like lawyer and Christian rights advocate Siju Thomas noted many such incidents, especially boycotts, at the people’s tribunal.His concerns tie in with reports of such attacks occurring in several states with greater frequency. In Jharkhand’s West Singbhhum, the Indian Express reported, police had to intervene to end the social boycott of four families in February this year – they were prevented from using the village pond, well, handpump and shops after they had converted to Christianity.On May 30, Maktoob Media reported that a Christian family in Bastar, Chhattisgarh was forced to leave its village due to threats from RSS and Bajrang Dal men. In 2017, Govind Mandavi, his family and 15–20 more families accepted Christianity without any coercion, the report said. “Things were better before, however, since the last two years, RSS and Bajrang Dal have made our lives hell,” Mandavi reportedly told Maktoob over the phone.In 2022, Dr Peter Machado, the Archbishop of Bangalore and the National Solidarity Forum and Evangelical Fellowship of India filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India citing 505 attacks against Christians in 2021 and another 250 up to May 2022. The PIL relied on news reports and verification with victims, the Hindustan Times had reported.In a counter-affidavit filed in April 2023, reports the Indian Express, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs disputed the petitioners’ figures, arguing that many incidents had been “wrongfully projected” as communal targeting. It also said that 232 of the 495 incidents cited by the petitioners had been reported to police (to file FIRs) in eight states, implying that most cases were trivial. It claimed that 73 incidents “were resolved amicably with mutual agreement”.Also read: Hate Crimes in Odisha: India’s Best Kept Secret“Many incidents alleged as Christian persecution have been either false or wrongly projected,” the government affidavit reportedly said, calling “many” accounts in the PIL “trivial disputes between two parties” that were likely given religious colour.According to the PIL, the attacks it had listed included cases where churches were demolished or there was murder, forced conversions, physical attacks, arrests of pastors, defacement of church properties, Bible burnings, hate campaigns, boycotts, stalling services and gender violence, reported the Hindustan Times.Weak institutional responseSurvivors who spoke at the People’s Tribunal mentioned several incidents of arbitrary arrests under anti-conversion laws, threats, forced displacement, closure of places of worship, and intimidation by organised groups, say reports on the event.Degree Chouhan, a rights activist from Chhattisgarh, said that the scale of violence and the official response did not match, especially how FIRs are not registered in sync with the hundreds of incidents reported annually. He raised concerns regarding delayed investigations, police inaction and the failure of institutions to provide justice to survivors.Also read: Activists Write Open Letter to Odisha Chief Secretary Urging Attention to Attacks on Christian MinoritiesSpeakers also raised concerns about the operation of anti-conversion laws and the difficulties faced by victims seeking legal remedies, the tribunal said in its press release. It cited senior journalist Pamela Philipose describing the testimonies as markers of deeply disturbing times and emphasised the need for sustained public engagement, solidarity and new forms of collective action to confront escalating hatred and exclusion.Irfan Ali Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, drew attention to the “extraordinary courage and resilience” of survivors who testified on June 1 despite widespread insecurity. He cautioned that narratives around ghar wapsi and religious conversion were frequently deployed to legitimise coercion and discrimination, and stressed that genuine freedom of conscience must remain central to India’s constitutional framework.Concluding the proceedings of the People’s Tribunal, rights activist and Karawan-e-Mohabbat founder Harsh Mander said that the incidents documented on that day were not isolated acts of prejudice or spontaneous expressions of hostility. Instead, they revealed a systematic campaign of exclusion that threatened equal citizenship. Referring to testimonies regarding denial of burial rights, social boycott, forced displacement and attacks on worship, he warned that fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of India were being steadily eroded and called upon citizens, institutions and governments to act urgently to defend them.