About 1,000 Christians from more than 20 villages in Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts of Chhattisgarh state in India have fled mobs that attacked people and church buildings.

Vikal Pravin Rao, executive secretary of Mennonite Church in India, said in a Mennonite World Conference prayer request that several MCI congregations are located in these districts, and the situation is critical.

Allegations of forced conversions are on the rise as the right-wing Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party promotes controversial anti-conversion laws. At least six Indian BJP-ruled states have enacted or updated laws prohibiting religious conversion “by force or deception.”

The Christian Science Monitor reported documented attacks against Christians jumped 81% from 2020 to 2021, as mobs have vandalized churches, attacked mission worker schools, disrupted prayer meetings and assaulted pastors and other Christians. Christians make up about 2% of India’s population.

Members of the MCI Executive Committee visited the Chhattisgarh region to bring food and relief supplies, evaluate the situation and stand in solidarity with the new believers.

“We request special prayers for the victims of the violence and to intercede for the country as a whole so that citizens of all faiths will inherit 2023 in peace and harmony,” Rao said in January.

Rao is a member of the MWC Deacons Commission. He said in an MWC interview last summer that it is mandatory for organizations to register with the government to receive foreign assistance. In 2021 the federal government canceled this registration for many Christian and Muslim organizations, including Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India.

“In earlier days, we were able to preach openly the good news of the gospel on the markets,” he said. “Now if we were doing it, we would be beaten or put into jail.”