Hello,

In the middle of 2025, an unusual phenomenon began playing out across several villages in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. Several villages put up boards that barred the entry of Christian priests and pastors, and even ordinary Christians, from outside the village.

The boards stated that the bans were being enforced in accordance with the Panchayat’s Extension to Scheduled Area’s Act, which restores a measure of self-governance to Adivasi-majority areas listed under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. Specifically, the boards argued that such bans would help safeguard Adivasi cultures and traditions.

But reporting from the region, Nolina Minj found that the picture was far more complex.

Many activists and locals explained that other crucial provisions of the act, such as those pertaining to local development and resource management, had been largely overlooked. Meanwhile, the invocation of the provisions pertaining to culture, many said, were part of a larger process through which Adivasi identities were being subsumed into the Hindu fold.

"We keep hearing of anti-Christian violence from Chhattisgarh, which usually involves cases of Christians being run out of their homes or being prevented from burying their dead in their villages," Minj said. "But travelling to Kanker revealed to me how Christian Adivasis in the region are being systematically ostracised - from their not being permitted to purchase goods from the village bazaar, to their neighbours being fined for speaking to them."

She added, "Furthermore, in all this animosity, the Adivasi fight for jal, jangal, jameen is being sidelined."

You can read the story here.

How a law to empower Adivasis is being used to target Christians in Chhattisgarh

PESA provisions about land rights are hardly used, many say. But its clauses about cultural protections are invoked to ostracise those who follow Christianity.

scroll.in

And you can support more such ground reporting by signing up as a member of Scroll.

Scroll Membership

Support Free & Independent Journalism

Ajay Krishnan
Senior Editor

Follow the Scroll channel on WhatsApp for a curated selection of the news that matters throughout the day, and a round-up of major developments in India and around the world every evening. What you won’t get: Spam.