Christians across South Asia are increasingly being stripped of their homes, land, and burial rights, as hostility toward followers of Christ continues to rise in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
In India, attacks on Christian properties, including homes and churches, have escalated in recent years, fuelled in part by the rise of Hindutva, a nationalist movement seeking to create a Hindu-only state.
According to the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA), acts of violence and intimidation against Christians are not random but planned. “The data shows that violence against Christians in India is orchestrated by Hindutva nationalist political parties as part of a wider effort to exclude Abrahamic faiths,” the organisation said in a 2023 report.
One shocking example came on 17 November 2024, when village councils in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh passed a resolution ordering local Christians to either renounce their faith or lose their land. The decree, which affected around 100 believers, led to mobs looting Christian harvests and confronting those who resisted.
Though a police report was eventually filed, local authorities initially offered no protection. Forty Christians chose not to return to their villages and instead sought refuge in a church in Michwar.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemned the events. “Village authorities in Chhattisgarh are effectively outlawing Christianity,” said CSW President Mervyn Thomas. “No one should be forced to choose between their faith and their home.”
Persecution in the region continued into 2025. In April, six Christian families were forcibly removed from their homes for refusing to abandon Christianity. Villagers stormed their houses, threw out belongings, and forced the families to live in nearby forests. Just two months earlier, a pastor named Subhash Baghel was denied burial for three weeks due to his Christian identity.
In Nepal, Christians continue to face challenges in securing land for burial and operating legally as religious organisations. The U.S. Embassy in Nepal noted that Christian groups struggle to register their churches and charities and are routinely blocked from buying land for burials, especially in Kathmandu Valley.
In Pakistan, blasphemy laws have become a powerful tool used to displace Christian and Ahmadi communities. Human Rights Watch reported in June 2025 that many minority groups live in informal settlements without formal land titles, making it easy for opportunists to seize their property once blasphemy accusations are made.
"Entire Christian neighbourhoods have been forced to flee following blasphemy claims," the report said, leaving behind homes and livelihoods that are rarely returned.
These property-related attacks highlight a disturbing trend of persecution by both mobs and government structures. Whether through mob violence, unjust legal mechanisms, or bureaucratic exclusion, Christians in South Asia are facing growing pressure to abandon not just their faith, but also the land they call home.
Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters across South Asia, that they may be protected, upheld in their faith, and supported in their pursuit of justice.
Adapted from reporting by International Christian Concern.
