Speaking to The Indian Express on Tuesday, Ramesh Baghel said, “It is not about my victory or defeat, it is a defeat for humanity.”

Subhash Baghel, a pastor, died on January 7 at his native Chhindawada village. According to the family, Subhash and his father Lakheshwar, from the Mahara community, had adopted Christianity in the 1980s.

Though several Christians from the Mahara community have been buried in the village graveyard in the past, for just over a year, the issue of burials appears to have divided the village. Many village residents that The Indian Express spoke to said they consider Christian funerary rituals as posing a threat to the “Rudi Parampara” – a set of tribal sentiments, traditions and cultural values. On February 7, 2024, the Gram Sabha passed a resolution forbidding a village burial for those who have given up the Rudi Parampara and converted to other religions.

Following the resolution residents have objected to three Christian burials, with the latest one being Subhash’s.

Ramesh Baghel said, “I did not understand why suddenly this issue was being raised by villagers. I felt that it was against my constitutional rights, so I went all the way to the Supreme Court, which proved me wrong.”

He had approached the Supreme Court after the Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed his petition on January 9 saying it “may cause unrest and disharmony in public at large”.

“To cut a long story short, all my efforts of going to the High Court, travelling 450 kilometres, and then challenging it in the apex court, went in vain. What the court ruled is the same thing the villagers were saying. It is a big injustice to me,” Baghel said Tuesday.

He said that over the years, village residents have boycotted his community and that people stopped buying goods from his general store and stopped working as labourers on his farm. “Both my sources of income have been blocked. I think the discrimination against the community is going to increase,” Ramesh said.

As per government records, out of the 6,450 people in Chhindawada, 6,000 are tribals, and 450 are Maharas – a Scheduled Caste community. Among the Maharas, 100 are Christians, including Baghel’s family.