3 Indian Christians held for violating conversion law

Three Christians, including a pastor, have been arrested under the stringent anti-conversion law in a northern Indian state.

A police team from Saidpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district raided the residence of Pastor Ramjit Rajwar following a complaint by Jitendra Singh, a Hindu man.

A local court remanded the three Christians in judicial custody on Jan. 15, the same day of their arrest.
“They pleaded not guilty of the alleged charges and urged the court to grant them bail, but it was turned down,” said a Christian leader who is assisting them with the legal case.

“We will soon file a bail application,” the Church leader, who did not want to be named, told UCA News on Jan.16

In his complaint, Singh accused Pastor Rajwar and the others of forcing him and his ailing wife to convert to Christianity promising miraculous healing.

Singh said his religious sentiments were hurt when the pastor and others spoke ill of Hindu religion.

During the raid, police seized religious materials including the Bible.
Uttar Pradesh, ruled by the pro-Hindu party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has become a hotbed of anti-Christian violence. The most populous state recorded the highest number of documented incidents of persecution against Christians in India last year.

From January to November last year, 287 incidents were recorded in the state, according to the New Delhi-based United Christian Forum (UCF), an ecumenical body that keeps track of rising Christian persecution across the country.

The Uttar Pradesh government enacted a sweeping anti-conversion law in 2021 to curb religious conversions. Eleven Indian states, most of them ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, have enacted similar laws.

Since the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act came into force, Christian leaders said more than 400 Christians were arrested and jailed.
“This is a new trend in Uttar Pradesh. People come and attend prayer meetings and lodge fake complaints,” said a Christian leader who is connected with the largest Indian state.

“Pastor Rajwar was conducting a routine prayer meeting and there was no question of any religious conversion,” the Church leader said, adding, “Why can’t a Christian keep the Holy Bible and other Christian literature in his/her home?”
Christians make up hardly 0.18 percent of Uttar Pradesh’s more than 200 million people, who are mostly Hindus.

This article is originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/3-indian-christians-held-for-violating-conversion-law/103846