On November 29th, 42 people were arrested on the charges of alleged proselytism perpetrated through enticements and promises of incentives in the event of a change of professed faith. The arrests occurred after Nar Singh, a member of Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad organization filed a complaint to the local authorities.

Earlier this week, a court in the district of Sonbhadra, in Uttar Pradesh, granted release on bail – a decision opposed by the government lawyer – to six defendants accused with forced conversion. The court stated:

“Propagating religion and promoting positive elements about religion is not a crime.”

However in most of these cases the court ruling is not always this fortunate. Whoever found guilty in the aforementioned charges, can be sentenced up to 10 years in prison. Fr Anand Mathew, of the Indian Missionary Society (IMS) based in Varanasi, said in an interview:

“It is very unfortunate that in recent months innocent shepherds who spend time with Jesus’ faithful in prayer are accused of forced conversion. Christians in Uttar Pradesh – he continues – are facing serious persecution. The press, media and social media spread false narratives. Pastors and leaders of the Christian community are depicted as crazy people who convert and convert by force. The Holy Bible is called propaganda material. Prayer meetings in which neither baptism nor conversion take place – concludes the priest – are defined as conversion meetings (dharmaantaran sabha)”.

According to the Uttar Pradesh anti-conversion law, a complaint can be filed only by the victim or close relatives. Despite this regulation, in the past, the Chief Minister of the State gave orders to the police forces to arrest anyone accused with forced conversion by members of Hindu organizations. Right now about 95 Christians are under arrest in Uttar Pradesh, including pastors and a Catholic priest.

Source: AsiaNews