Faith Vigilantism in India's Tribal State – A Story of Conversion and Control in Odisha

By Jyoti Jangra

Sadhu Sundar Singh, a Christian pastor, serves Adivasi/tribal communities in Odisha’s Balasore district. He helps people in these communities move away from alcoholism, hooliganism and the consumption of unsafe water. However, because he also shares his Christian faith with them, he has received death threats. While he maintains that there should be no restrictions on what citizens choose to believe, as religion is a deeply personal matter and religious freedom is guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, Hindu nationalist groups view the conversion of tribal people away from their ancestral faith and practices as an attack on local cultures and an imposition of what they see as a “Western” religion—Christianity. This tension has led to incidents of violence and unrest.

India’s tribal communities, constitutionally recognised as Scheduled Tribes, are culturally and religiously distinct from mainstream Hindu society. Many Adivasi groups follow animistic traditions, with their own deities, rituals and sacred practices rooted in nature worship and ancestor reverence—practices that predate and differ significantly from the Vedic or Brahmanical Hindu tradition.

The Supreme Court of India has also acknowledged this distinction.

In Stanislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh (1977), while upholding anti-conversion laws, the court noted that tribals often belong to religions not formally part of Hinduism. Census classifications further reveal this separation: the 2011 Census included a separate category for “Other Religions and Persuasions,” under which many tribal groups were listed, including Sarna, Gondi and others.

This distinction is also evident in the political demand by many tribal communities—such as those in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh—for a separate “Sarna Code” to protect their indigenous faiths from being subsumed under Hinduism.

However, Hindu nationalists have been active in Adivasi regions, resisting the conversion of tribal people to other religions.

Odisha was the first Indian state to enact an anti-conversion law, a move widely seen as one of the factors fuelling attacks on Christians.

The persecution of tribal Christians in Odisha has been a persistent issue, marked by sporadic violence, social ostracisation, and systemic discrimination.

In 2008, violence against Christians erupted in Kandhamal district following the assassination of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, for which Maoist rebels claimed responsibility. Hindu nationalist groups blamed Christians for it. At least 100 Christians were killed, over 395 churches were destroyed, and more than 60,000 people were displaced, according to civil society organisations.

The situation remains precarious.

In 2024, seven Christian families in Malkangiri district were forcibly evicted from their village after converting from their tribal religion. Their homes were destroyed, and they were threatened with death if they returned. Local authorities reportedly failed to take action despite complaints.

Further, in December 2024, two tribal women in Balasore district were tied to a tree and assaulted by a mob over suspicions of religious conversion.

The political shift in Odisha, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assuming power in June 2024, has coincided with an uptick in reported attacks against Christians.