Can a single village’s exiling of a single family be heard worldwide and rattle our shared conscience of justice? The story of Vikram and his family in Chhattisgarh, India, is a home-country tragedy, but above all it is an entry into the increasing pressures being placed upon Christian minorities, and a summons to the world to uphold religious freedom and human dignity.
1. A Family Driven Out for Faith Not for Sin
Vikram and his wife and five children were driven out of their home in a Hindu village on June 16, 2025, after they declined to take part in a Ghar Wapsi “homecoming” ceremony to reconvert them to Hinduism. Villagers broke into their home, dumped their belongings into the street, and attacked their three daughters, says International Christian Concern. “This is not the first time they’ve been attacked.” This is the fifth village conclave gathered to force the family to accept Ghar Wapsi,” an area Christian pastor told ICC. The refusal of the family to abandon their religion led to a public declaration of evicting them and ultimately displacement into an improvised shelter deep in the woods.
2. Anti-Conversion Laws: A Tool for Intimidation
Chhattisgarh is one of 11 states in India that are equipped with anti-conversion legislations, legislations initially designed to prevent forced religious conversion. But as human rights campaigners feared a long time ago, the legislations are now widely employed to harass and criminalize religious minorities. There are suggestions that “forced conversion” cases are persistently lodged without evidence, leading pastors and members of the congregation to be arrested in calm gatherings. The European Centre for Law and Justice noted, “Hindu nationalist forces have progressively dominated state policy, undermining secular government and institutionalizing religious minority discrimination.”
3. The Emergence of Hindu Nationalism and Domino Effects
These trends are not evolving in a vacuum. Violence against Christians and other minorities has sharply escalated since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. BJP’s ideological roots lie in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and it espouses a Hindu perception of India. The RSS agenda is self-explanatory: “Right from the start, the ideal before the Sangh was to attain the highest rung of glory of the Hindu Rashtra[nation] … by rearranging the entire society.” The ideological turn has generated a geometric series of assaults on Christians, 834 in 2024 alone, and Chhattisgarh among the worst-affected states.
4. International Law and India’s Constitutional Promises
What is happening in Chhattisgarh is glaringly opposite to India’s constitutional and international mandate. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ensures, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”. This right would involve freedom to express his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching.” International human rights norms mandate the states to “take effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.” But as the United Christian Forum has documented, on the ground reality, it is a system where legal protection is systematically disregarded or worked around.
5. Humanitarian Assistance: A Lifeline During Hostility
When driven out, Vikram’s family found themselves taking shelter in a cabin of logs in the forest until ICC workers provided them with food, clothes, and temporary shelter. Such acts are the sole lifeline for Christian families that have been displaced, sometimes stripped of the barest minimum of water, food, and education by host governments and local communities. Aid agencies play an indispensable role, but their actions create a compelling need for systemic reform and government accountability.
6. The Psychological Burden: Trauma That Resounds Across Generations
Persecution not only inflicts physical scars it sows intergenerational trauma. As ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette so eloquently puts it, “Intergenerational trauma as a result of Christian persecution equates to psychological and emotional trauma transferred from one generation to another among Christian communities that are under persecution.” Children raised in cultures of fear and displacement could develop anxiety, identity crisis, and trust deficit, determining the destiny of entire communities. Yet those same communities exhibit astounding resilience, drawing strength from their faith and unity.
7. Coping with the Burden of Unjustice: Keeping Sane in the Storm
For activists, and even for witnesses, recollections such as Vikram’s may trigger intense anxiety, anger, and helplessness. Practitioners recommend self-care strategies to cope with these sentiments: accept and manage your emotions, limit exposure to disturbing news cycles, and actively seek hope and connection. As one counselor counseled, “Even when things are bad, when the worst is happening in our world, good things happen. They can be small or large, personal or universal, intimate or generic. Whatever they are is worth less than being intentional to learn them.” Attention to gratitude, talk with trusted friends, and sound boundaries around news-taking can translate anxiety into intentional action.
8. Advocacy and the Global Response
Global governments and international institutions continue to pressure India to uphold its constitutional and international responsibilities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, for instance, documents abuse and demands diplomatic action. The International Religious Freedom Report is one of the most important tools that aim to create awareness and mobilization for abused communities. When advocacy is coupled with sympathy and fact-based, it is still a force for change.
The fate of Vikram’s family remains uncertain, a sobering reminder that the fight for religious freedom is far from over. Still, even amid expulsion and bullying, the steadfast hope and resolve of persecuted people and their allies give inspiration for courage and compassion in the face of evil.
