Uttar Pradesh, four Christians arrested on conversion charges

Four were arrested Friday in a village following reports by the Hindu organisations Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang DalPer. Due to the presence of anti-conversion laws, Christians suffer continuous intimidation in India. Bishop Gerald Mathias of Lucknow: "Innocent people languish in prisons. It is unacceptable".

Lucknow (AsiaNews) - It is mainly through the anti-conversion laws implemented in some Indian states that the persecution of the Christian community in the world's largest democracy is taking shape. The latest hostility concerns the arrest of four Christians, including a pastor from Uttarakhand, arrested in a village in the district of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. The alleged charge is that of converting people to Christianity by luring them under the pretext of granting them benefits. "The number of attacks on Christians and their gatherings for worship services is increasing," Bishop Gerald Mathias of Lucknow told AsiaNews. "The Christian community cannot profess, practise and propagate its faith in freedom, as enshrined in the Constitution, because of these interferences, intimidations and atrocities".

An investigation into the incident, which allegedly took place last Friday evening, was initiated by the police following reports by activists of two Hindu organisations, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. The legal basis is the reference sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a penal code passed in 2023, and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act of 2021. Thakurdwara police officer Rajesh Kumar said the incident allegedly took place in Rammanawala village, under the jurisdiction of his station, when a meeting of a Christian religious congregation was held. Kumar said that the activists of the two Hindu organisations intervened by informing the police and claiming that they were forced into religious conversion through grooming.

The general secretary of the district unit of the VHP organisation in Moradabad, Pankaj Singh Pal, then filed a complaint against four persons, including one Kuldeep, who claims to be a pastor from Uddham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, and three locals, including two brothers, Jaipal and Amarjeet, and one Mukesh. In the statement he said that they give people money, refrigerators, televisions, bicycles, motorbikes and sewing machines to convert to Christianity. He said that Christians who help convert other people receive Rs 25,000, while the pastor who converts them receives Rs 35,000 for each conversion. Earlier in the day yesterday, the commander said that an information report under Sections 351(2) for insult and 351(3) for criminal intimidation as well as Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was registered at the Thakurdwara police station on Saturday.

"The anti-conversion law is crudely used and people, especially pastors, are often arrested on false charges. Fundamentalists go around as vigilantes to disturb congregations or religious conferences,' added Msgr Gerald Mathias, speaking to AsiaNews. He claimed that the police arrest Christians simply because someone has complained, without having any proof. According to the law, however, only the injured person or his close relatives can file a complaint. "In most cases, it is the Sangh Parivar organisations, such as the VHP and Bajrangdal, that complain and file the acts. As a result, innocent people languish in jails. This is simply unacceptable,' he said.