A Kerala-based Christian family living in Chhattisgarh has alleged constant harassment at the hands of Hindu right-wing groups Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), forcing the members to go into hiding in order to save their lives.
Jose Thomas, a pastor in Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha, was beaten by members of these Hindu right-wing groups and dragged to the police station. His family alleges that instead of helping them, the police sided with the assailants.
Joshua’s family — his father Jose Thomas (56), mother Liji Thomas (46), and two younger brothers Joel Thomas (18) and Joseph Thomas (17) — are Malayali Christians who moved from Kerala to Kawardha in Kabirdham district around 35 years ago. Joshua and his siblings were born and raised there.
Speaking to Maktoob, Joshua Jose Thomas, son of Jose Thomas, said that although the family is originally from Kerala, they have been living in Chhattisgarh for the past 35 years.
“This place, where we live, has always been politically sensitive, but the issue here is regarding an English school that is run in the vicinity by our family,” Thomas explained.
Pastor Jose Thomas has been working in Kawardha for the past 35 years.
He established the Holy Kingdom English Higher Secondary School in 1999 — the district’s first English-medium CBSE school. The school currently has around 600 students enrolled.
According to Joshua, due to the political sensitivity of the area, whenever a student who hadn’t paid the fees was asked to do so, local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders would arrive and issue threats.
“They used to threaten us that they would shut the school,” he added.
Thomas further stated that on 18 May, the family was attacked by RSS and VHP goons during a Sunday church service.
“The goons entered the church alleging forced conversion by my family. They attacked my mother and younger brothers, who were injured,” he said.
However, instead of helping the family, the police authorities arrested Jose Thomas.
Joshua also alleged that a false FIR was filed against his father, in addition to continuous threats the family was receiving—even while they were at the police station. Interestingly, during the tenure of former Chief Minister and BJP leader Raman Singh in 2010, Pastor Jose was arrested in a similar case when “forceful conversion” charges were brought against him by VHP and Bajrang Dal.
“My father was jailed for 10 days on a fabricated charge in 2010–11; however, the court later found him not guilty. State agencies have been harassing us through countless inquiries and investigations. Financial authorities such as the Income-Tax Department—acting with prejudice toward Christian management—have frozen our bank accounts to break us down financially,” Joshua added.
Joshua further said that on 29 April, BJP District President Rajendra Chandravanshi called, threatening to shut down the school unless “we issued a Transfer Certificate (TC) for the son and daughter of Sushil Shinde.”
He acknowledged that two years of fees were still unpaid and that no TC application had been submitted, yet he cursed and threatened the family.
This, he added, began a series of harassments that have forced his parents into hiding, as they are still receiving death threats.
“The local media here has worked with BJP and Bajrang Dal members by publishing a fabricated story that we were forcing religious conversions in exchange for waiving fees and issuing the TC. The media outlet demanded a ₹1 lakh ransom: if we refused, they would spread the fake conversion story, damage our reputation, and threaten our family’s safety,” he added.
On 18 May, during the Sunday church service, VHP and Bajrang Dal goons stormed in shouting “Jai Shree Ram,” Joshua said.
“They demanded to know who had permitted the service and were told we had worshipped there for three decades. They assaulted my mother and younger brother in the presence of Additional SP Baghel, Kawardha police, and media crews. Terrified teenage girls hid in the bathroom; the goons broke the door and assaulted them,” Joshua alleged.
While Joshua’s father was taken to the police station, VHP and Bajrang Dal goons arrived there as well and harassed the family.
“Our family remains in hiding, fearful for our lives, while the attackers roam free. Police have still not registered our complaint or provided protection,” he added.
Speaking with the media, Additional SP Pushpender Singh Baghel said, “Some members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal group had complained that in Adarsh Nagar, people were being wrongly converted. On their complaint, the police reached the place. Around 20–25 people had come for the prayer, and we are questioning them. There was an argument between them, but it has been resolved.”
Pastor Jose has also explained their ordeal in a video on YouTube in Hindi and in Malayalam on Instagram.
Christians in Chhattisgarh are facing an imminent threat, with many cases emerging from different parts of the state. Maktoob has documented how the community is being harassed in a systematic and planned manner.
Recently, the United Christian Forum (UCF) stated that it had received 245 calls from various parts of the country regarding incidents of violence against Christians. The data was collected over three months through the helpline launched by the forum.
“Christians in India continue to face two incidents of violence per day, as reported through the UCF helpline service number 1-800-208-4545; there has been a sharp increase since 2014,” it said in a statement.
According to UCF data, Christian tribals and women have been more frequent victims of violence than men.
While 127 incidents were reported in 2014, the number has sharply increased since. UCF reported 142 incidents in 2015, 226 in 2016, 248 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020, 505 in 2021, 601 in 2022, 734 in 2023, and 834 in 2024.
“In 2025, from January to April, 245 incidents of violence against Christians were reported from 19 states in India, with 55 incidents in January, 65 in February, 76 in March, and 49 in April. Uttar Pradesh continues to top the list with 50 incidents, followed by 46 in Chhattisgarh,” UCF stated.
The other 17 states witnessing incidents of violence against Christians include: Andhra Pradesh – 14 incidents, Bihar – 16 incidents, Delhi – 1 incident, Gujarat – [number missing], Haryana – 12 incidents, Himachal Pradesh – 3 incidents, Jharkhand – 17 incidents, Karnataka – 22 incidents, Madhya Pradesh – 14 incidents, Maharashtra – 6 incidents, Odisha – 2 incidents, Punjab – 6 incidents, Rajasthan – 18 incidents, Tamil Nadu – 1 incident, Telangana – 1 incident, Uttarakhand – 2 incidents, and West Bengal – 11 incidents.
The data includes physical violence, murder, sexual violence, intimidation and threats, social boycott, damage to religious properties, desecration of religious symbols, and disruption of prayer services.
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