SUKMA DISTRICT, India — Nearly 300 Christians in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh state have been forcibly displaced by radical Hindu mobs in the first months of this year, according to International Christian Concern, a U.S.-based persecution watchdog working to build two safe houses for the displaced believers.
Among those driven from their homes are infants, pregnant women, young mothers, and schoolchildren, ICC reported. One ICC staffer based in India described his own family’s displacement after a radical Hindu mob vandalized and destroyed his house, beat his family, and drove them into the forest at night with no food, water, or shelter.
“I can make room for you,” a fellow Christian from another village told the staffer after he managed to reach him by phone. “I understand what it means to have no place to stay. Even discomfort is better than having nowhere to lay your head.”
India’s Chhattisgarh state, particularly the tribal Sukma district, has seen recurring waves of anti-Christian violence in which Hindu nationalist groups pressure villagers to renounce their faith or face expulsion. The pattern — mob attacks on homes followed by forced displacement into forests and neighboring villages — targets some of the most vulnerable Christian communities in the country. The displaced families have no legal recourse in villages where local authorities are aligned with or unwilling to confront the mobs.
ICC said it is now working to build two safe houses in the region to provide refuge for persecuted believers who have been left with nowhere to go. The organization described the displaced Christians as holding fast to the promise of John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many rooms.”
ICC has called on supporters to fund the safe house construction. The organization has not disclosed a timeline for completion or specific locations for the shelters, citing security concerns for the communities they are designed to protect.