3 min readRaipurJun 25, 2026 10:54 PM IST
Tensions over conversion are escalating in a village in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur, where the social boycott of 26 families has led to a police deployment, with the families claiming they have received a 30-day ultimatum to “return to the tribal culture”.
According to locals, communal tensions have been simmering in Bharanda village since last December, when objections to Christian prayers allegedly led to a mob assault on a local resident.
According to locals, the tensions followed a dispute over burial rights in Badetevda village in neighbouring Kanker district that triggered communal clashes on December 16, 17 and 18. They say the violence fuelled tensions in parts of Kanker as well as Bharanda village in neighbouring Narayanpur district.
On Tuesday, a conversion-related dispute triggered a standoff in the village, leading to the deployment of 100 police personnel. It was followed by 12 hours of negotiations between the villagers. While district authorities said they managed to broker peace, some village leaders claimed the converted families had been given “a month’s time to return to the tribal culture”.
According to locals, communal tensions have been simmering in Bharanda village since last December. (Credit: Special Arrangement)
According to officials, it took 13 rounds of talks to broker peace. “We did a peace meeting and now situation is under control. We are keeping a watch on the village,” said Narayanpur SP Robinson Guria.
According to the affected families, the latest standoff is the culmination of a series of disputes the village has witnessed over the past month. On June 9, a pastor and his wife, who had come to the village, were booked by police for “hurting religious sentiments” following allegations of religious conversion. On June 21, another such dispute forced a family to flee into the jungle, prompting police intervention.
Residents say fears of reprisals have grown since the June 23 standoff. “For the first time, villagers called for a boycott,” one resident said. “There was a time when non-Christian villagers would, out of concern, ask us to pray at home because the Church is 10 km away. Now, they object to that.”
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A village resident who was among those who called for the boycott confirmed the 30-day ultimatum, saying: “If they do not return to our culture, we will have another meeting and decide the further course of action.”
The development comes amid a rise in such standoffs in Chhattisgarh, with similar incidents reported over the past few years from Bastar, Narayanpur, Kanker and Kondagaon districts.
In November 2024, around 500 people were forced to spend several days at the Narayanpur indoor stadium following a similar backlash against “Christian practices”.
Violence had also erupted in January 2023, when a mob of tribals and right-wing groups vandalised a church inside a school. The mob also attacked several police personnel, including the then Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar.
A BJP leader was arrested in the case.