Church in Puthur, Thrissur, Kerala, India by Joel Kappani / Unsplash
International Christian Concern (ICC) is calling on Indian authorities to respond decisively to a series of violent incidents targeting Christian communities in the central state of Chhattisgarh.
The appeal follows multiple reports of churches being vandalized and pastors assaulted in recent weeks, according to a press release from the global Christian rights organization.
One of the latest attacks took place July 13, when a group of roughly 50 individuals entered a Pentecostal church in the town of Gopalpuri, damaging property and injuring the pastor, who required hospitalization. According to the pastor’s son, police officers were present during the attack but did not intervene.
This incident came just a month after the same congregation reported an earlier act of destruction that left its roof, water tank, and cooling systems in ruins. Additional reports cited damage to a Pentecostal church in Hatkeshwar and threats issued to close another in Panchpedi Bakhara.
Home to around 30 million people, Chhattisgarh includes a small Christian minority of roughly 2% percent. According to data referenced by ICC, the state recorded 165 anti-Christian incidents last year.
ICC President Jeff King condemned the attacks and the broader atmosphere of hostility.
“Hindu extremists are waging a vicious campaign against India’s Christians, with pastors beaten and churches torched in Chhattisgarh, as mobs act with impunity under the shadow of BJP rhetoric,” he said in a statement. “This isn’t just vandalism — it’s a deliberate assault on religious freedom, and the world must wake up to India’s escalating persecution crisis before more believers pay with their lives.”
King also criticized the silence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid the unrest.
“Narendra Modi’s deafening silence as radical Hindu mobs attack pastors and burn churches in Chhattisgarh and across India emboldens a culture of persecution that threatens India’s Christian minority,” King said. “His inaction is intentional complicity and a cornerstone of the escalating violence against believers, and the world must hold him accountable before this crisis spirals further.”
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