Village council in India's Chhattisgarh bars Christians from community land for burials and churches

A special gram sabha (village assembly) in Punpalli village, in the Konta block of Sukma district in central India's Chhattisgarh state, passed a resolution on Oct. 2. It says no community land will be given to Christians or people who have converted to Christianity for burials, church buildings, prayer meetings or religious and healing gatherings. A board put up in the village also says pastors and preachers may not enter for conversion, prayer meetings or related activity, according to The Times of India, The Hindu and The New Indian Express. "Not even an inch of gram sabha land would be given to them," a panchayat press release quoted by The Hindu said.

The assembly cites Article 244(1) and the Fifth Schedule of India's Constitution, which cover tribal-majority Scheduled Areas. It also cites the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996, known as PESA, and Chhattisgarh's 2022 PESA rules, which give village assemblies powers to protect tribal customs and community resources. Madkam Bhima, a local elected block-council member, said the decision reflected traditional systems, social unity and community interests. He said any dispute should go through legal and constitutional channels. The Indian Express reported that about 21 Christian families, roughly 75 people, live among Punpalli's 2,000 residents. If the resolution holds, those families would have to travel about 13 kilometers, or more than 40 kilometers to the district headquarters, to bury their dead. Bhima told the paper that four Sukma villages have now passed similar resolutions.

Christian community representatives and lawyers say the resolution is unconstitutional. Jagdalpur lawyer Pradeep Singh told The Hindu it misreads PESA and that no law can take away a fundamental right. A Christian rural service committee official told The Indian Express that at least 10 villages in the Bastar region have done something similar. Officials have responded in different ways. A Sukma official told The Times of India the administration would check whether the resolution falls within the assembly's powers and act if it does not. A senior officer told The New Indian Express such a resolution "apparently holds no legal sanctity" and that police would prevent any disturbance. The district panchayat chief executive, Mukund Thakur, told The Indian Express he would act on a written complaint after checking legality. The Times of India noted that India's Supreme Court intervened in a similar Bastar burial dispute in January 2025.