Christians are being beaten, robbed, evicted, and killed. One group attacks the other and the other stages revenge. The fighting is at an all time high for the past few decades. Many people are scared for their safety.

The murder is only a spark for a battle that has its origins much deeper. One tribal leader, Lambahdhar Kanhari, stated that the roots went back decades. Hindus had a preconceived notion that Christians are “criminal by nature” who have stolen land, crops, and much more. Kanhari acknowledges that some of his followers have been part of the attacks on Christians, but he also points out that it is not a one-sided fight. Kanhari has received death threats from Christians.

The conflict is not only based on religion but it extends to caste and ethnicity. The lowest levels of the caste system are made up of the two fighting clans. They have quarreled over land and resources for many years. The lowest class is divided into two subgroups, scheduled tribes and scheduled castes. The scheduled tribes are indigenous people and mostly Hindu. Therefore, Hindus’ bonds with each other are deepened for each other in the similarities of social class and economic level. Non-indigenous poor characterize the scheduled castes. The scheduled castes have seen an increase in the number of people converting to Christianity. Converting to be an “other” is a great offense to many Hindus. It only has strengthened the distrust of the Christians.

The people of India have moved to a neoconservative perspective. They see a huge divide between each other. Hindus and Christians have a scorn for each other that have been everlasting. The murder was only a spark for the idealists to rationalize using force against each other. Hindus and Christians see this as an opportunity to rid their land of the detested “others".