Justice sought for Indian Christian childcare workers

A Christian rights group in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has urged authorities to ensure justice for a Christian worker at a rural childcare center, who has been accused of religious conversion activities.

Sharda Baghel, who manages an Anganwadi — a government-sponsored rural childcare and mother care center — in her village, Sately, in Kanker district, was accused by some non-Christian tribal people of teaching Christianity and encouraging children to attend church.

Her two assistants at the Anganwadi center are also being targeted because they are Christians.

“Baghel and the two other Christian staff members have not been paid their salaries since April,” Pastor Simon Digbal Tandi, coordinator of the Progressive Christian Alliance (PCA), told UCA News on May 13.

Baghel has denied the allegations and, with the support of the PCA, a network of pastors, church leaders, and social workers in Chhattisgarh, approached the district collector and superintendent of police on May 11 to seek justice.

In a memorandum submitted to the district’s top officials, Baghel stated that she has worked at the Anganwadi center for the past 34 years and has never been involved in religious conversion activities.

She also pointed out that no parent had previously complained about her work or conduct.

Baghel told the officials that the Anganwadi center has been shut following the allegations, and she had not been paid her salary for the past two months.

Pastor Tandi said Baghel and her co-workers were being targeted “because they are Christians.”

He alleged that non-Christian tribal villagers want them to embrace the Hindu religion.

Pastor Tandi referred to another case of a Christian, Lakshmi Devi Bhardwaj, who was suspended as headmistress of a government primary school for girls in Baloda, a town in Janjgir-Champa district.

The May 7 suspension order issued by the district education department stated that “some parents had accused Bhardwaj of promoting Christian practices among students.”

The order also referred to local media reports alleging she was encouraging children to reject Hindu customs and deities.

An internal inquiry by the district education department found the complaints against Bhardwaj to be “prima facie true,” leading to her suspension.

Habil Mashi, a PCA member, said that in many such cases, individuals take the law into their own hands while local authorities remain passive.

He claimed attacks against Christians have increased since the Chhattisgarh state government passed a revised anti-conversion law last month.

“People of other faiths see us as outsiders who have committed a crime by embracing Christianity,” Mashi told UCA News.

The activist, who is assisting Baghel and the two staff members, said the sad reality is that Christians often end up being both the victims and the accused.

“When the accusations fall apart, we are asked to compromise with the accusers,” Mashi said.

The PCA criticized the revised anti-conversion law, saying it is “not about protecting religious freedom, but about systematically restricting and criminalizing the legitimate expression of minority faiths.”

The Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Bill replaces a 58-year-old law and introduces stricter regulations and harsher penalties for religious conversions deemed forced or fraudulent by authorities.

The latest incidents come amid growing concern over attacks on Christians in Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh recorded 165 incidents targeting Christians in 2024 — the second highest in the country, according to the New Delhi-based United Christian Forum, which keeps track of Christian persecution.

Christians make up less than 2 percent of Chhattisgarh’s 30 million people.

This article was originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/justice-sought-for-indian-christian-childcare-workers/113281