Anti-Christian incidents continue to rise on Sundays in India

Harassment and arrests of Christians on allegations of religious conversion continued across northern India on Sundays, with police last week detaining at least 12 Christians in three separate incidents, church leaders said.

Police arrested 10 Christians, including women, on Dec. 14 after they gathered for a Sunday prayer meeting in a village in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh state.

The arrests followed a complaint by Anand Dubey, a resident of Kurkuthiya village, who accused the group of violating the state’s stringent anti-conversion law.

The accused were produced before a local court on Dec. 15 and remanded to judicial custody. Police said they seized four copies of the Bible, 10 notebooks and four mobile phones from the group as evidence.

In another case, police arrested two more Christians from Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh and remanded them to judicial custody the following day, officials said.

Meanwhile, in northwestern Rajasthan, Hindu activists entered St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bichhiwara village in Dungarpur district on Dec. 14 and disrupted the Sunday Eucharist, accusing the parish priest and others of participating in a religious conversion ceremony.

Parish priest Father Rajesh Sarel told the media that the group interrupted the Mass and questioned him about alleged conversions of tribal people.

He denied the accusations, saying he was not involved in any conversion activity, but said the activists nonetheless warned him against converting people.

Christian leaders say such incidents have increased in Rajasthan after the state enacted a strict anti-conversion law on Sept. 9. It prescribes penalties of up to 20 years in prison and heavy fines for religious conversion through force, coercion, misrepresentation, undue influence, allurement, marriage or other fraudulent means.

The law places the burden of proof on the accused, which Christian leaders say emboldens Hindu activists to file complaints against Christians.

In Uttar Pradesh, the latest arrests came less than two weeks after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court warned police against invoking the anti-conversion law without proper application of mind.

‘Life difficult for Christians’

In the Dec. 2 order, the court criticized police for their casual approach in filing what it described as false conversion cases and questioned why exemplary costs should not be imposed on authorities who fail to exercise due diligence.

Noting a pattern of misuse, the court cautioned state authorities against invoking the law in a “mimeograph style,” emphasizing that it is a special statute with stringent provisions requiring careful scrutiny.

Christian leaders said the recent incidents reflect continued neglect of Christians’ religious rights.

Pastor Joy Mathew, who provides legal assistance to persecuted Christians, said police “continue to register baseless conversion cases against minorities, especially Christians and Muslims, in total disregard of the High Court order.”

He added that securing bail under the law is particularly difficult due to its stringent provisions.

Another Christian leader, who requested anonymity, said being a Christian in Uttar Pradesh has “become difficult, as one can be jailed at any time simply for holding a prayer meeting or possessing a Bible.”

Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has enacted one of the country’s strictest anti-conversion laws, with prison terms of up to 20 years for conversion through coercion, inducement or other fraudulent means.

Christian leaders say harassment and arrests have risen sharply nationwide over the past decade following the rise to power of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party at the federal level and in several states.

Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of anti-Christian incidents in India in 2024, with 209 cases reported out of a nationwide total of 834, according to church groups.

Christians make up less than one percent of Uttar Pradesh’s over 200 million people, while more than 80 percent of the population practices Hinduism. In Rajasthan, too, Christians are less than 1 percent of the population.