Kerala Church Slams Chhattisgarh Hoardings Barring Pastors, Calls It &ldquo;Most Divisive Boundary Since Partition&rdquo;
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, one of India&rsquo;s largest Eastern Catholic denominations, has strongly condemned the installation of signboards in several Chhattisgarh villages prohibiting the entry of pastors and &ldquo;converted Christians.&rdquo; 
The Church described the move as one that &ldquo;marks out a group of people as second-class citizens&rdquo; and called it &ldquo;the most divisive boundary the country has seen since Partition.&rdquo;
Responding to the Chhattisgarh High Court&rsquo;s recent ruling that upheld the legality of these hoardings, the Church said in a statement on Monday, &ldquo;In some villages of Chhattisgarh, signboards have been put up declaring that pastors and converted Christians are not allowed entry, a move the court has now approved.&nbsp;That signboard, which marks out a group of people as second-class citizens, is the most divisive boundary the country has seen since Partition.&rdquo;
The Church urged that the High Court verdict be legally challenged, arguing, &ldquo;In a nation where lynch mobs, killers, persecutors of Dalits and Adivasis, and those forcing "ghar wapsi" conversions are not prohibited, this verdict must be challenged in the Supreme Court.&rdquo;
Interestingly, the Syro-Malabar Church, which has been a key participant in the BJP&rsquo;s Christian outreach efforts in Kerala, criticized what it called &ldquo;a new experiment in religious discrimination.&rdquo; 
The Church said, &ldquo;In secular India, forces of Hindutva have successfully launched yet another experiment in religious discrimination and aggressive intolerance. By putting up these boards banning pastors and converted Christians in certain villages of Chhattisgarh, a new chariot march of institutionalised communalism has been set in motion.&rdquo;
The Church further emphasized that the resistance to such acts must be rooted in the Indian Constitution rather than any form of religious extremism. 
It said, &ldquo;The resistance against this Hindutva invasion must not be carried out by equating it with other forms of communalism or extremism, nor by maintaining a so-called "holy silence" against them. We must not heed those communal supporters who misuse anti-fascist warnings like, "Finally, they came for you."&nbsp;To keep India secular, the fight must be waged only in alliance with the Constitution of India, the Magna Carta of citizens&rsquo; rights.&rdquo;
On October 28, the Chhattisgarh High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru ruled that the hoardings &ldquo;appear to have been installed by the concerned Gram Sabhas as a precautionary measure to protect the interests of indigenous tribes and local cultural heritage.&rdquo;
The controversy follows an earlier incident in July 2024, when two Catholic nuns from Kerala, Preethi Marry and Vandana Francis, were arrested at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion. 
The alleged victims later clarified that the nuns were only helping them find jobs, sparking widespread outrage and debate in Kerala.

Syro-Malabar Church leaders addressing press conference

Kerala’s Syro-Malabar Church condemns pastor entry ban in Chhattisgarh villages

Kerala Church Condemns Chhattisgarh Pastor Ban

Kerala’s Syro-Malabar Church condemns pastor entry ban in Chhattisgarh villages

November 3, 2025 | 23:25 IST