Christians in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are living in fear after radical Hindu activists stepped up a campaign for the reconversion of indigenous people.

“Our people are frightened as radical Hindu groups are pressurising the indigenous Christians to give up their faith in Christianity,” Father Rocky Shah, the public relations officer of the Catholic Diocese of Jhabua, told Aid to the Church in Need.

In Jhabua, a district where indigenous people are in the majority, Christians comprise 4 percent of the population. In the state at large, Christians make up less than one percent of the population of 71 million.

He said: “The Hindu activists are running campaigns demanding action against priests and pastors who are leading the Christian communities and they threatened to demolish our churches under the false charge that they are built illegally on the lands of indigenous people”.

The Hindu activists’ plan to destroy churches in the district, however, was frustrated by timely action from the district administration. “More than 300 police were deployed to guard the Catholic cathedral and other church structures,” following the threats from the radical Hindus, the priest says.