25 Christians including pastors in Uttar Pradesh a northern Indian state were arrested by authorities last week over claims of Inducing Religious ‘Conversions.’
Police arrested the Christians following a claim by the residents that they were offering financial inducement and had gathered a significant group of men and women with the intention of converting them to Christianity.
Christians in Uttar Pradesh however have raised alarm following the incident contending that the claims were false.
Speaking with the UCA News, Pastor Jitendra Singh, the general secretary of the Pastors’ Association of Uttar Pradesh noted that 20 Christians were arrested on Sept. 10 in Kanpur, three on Sept. 13 in Azamgarh, and two on Sept. 14 in Auraiya districts.
The 20 Christians who were detained in Kanpur were released that day, but the three believers from Azamgarh had little chance.
A Christian activist who preferred to remain anonymous said that even if they “apply for regular bail in the Azamgarh district court on Sept. 15, there is little chance of the three arrested Christians being released today.”
Pastor Singh reported that in the previous six months, the state police had detained over 100 members of the faithful, including pastors, on fictitious conversion charges
“It is a matter of great concern for all of us here,” Singn said, indicating that there have been so many arrests of Christians in the past week of this one month alone. “We are living in constant fear and threat of hardline Hindu groups,” he added.
Gaurav Raghuvanshi, convener of the hardline Hindu group Bajrang Dal (Brigade of Lord Hanuman), claimed Christian missionaries are active in every village of Azamgarh district.
He alleged missionaries were expanding their network by building new churches and converting poor Hindus through the lure of money.
The state’s anti-conversion law — The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 — criminalizes religious conversion by “force, undue influence, coercion, or allurement” and even “marriage for the sake of religious conversion.”