Uttar Pradesh, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindu party, has become a hotbed of anti-Christian violence.
Hindu priests perform evening prayers on the banks of the Sarayu River in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on December 27, 2023. (Photo: AFP)
Three Christians, including a pastor, have been arrested under the strict 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 filed by Jitendra Singh, a Hindu.
A local court placed the three Christians in judicial custody on January 15, the same day of their arrest.
“They pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and asked the court to grant them bail, but it was denied,” said a Christian leader who is assisting them in their legal proceedings.
“We will soon apply for bail,” the church leader, who requested anonymity, told UCA News on January 16.
In his complaint, Singh accused Pastor Rajwar and others of forcing him and his ailing wife to convert to Christianity by promising miraculous healing.
Singh said his religious feelings were hurt when the pastor and others spoke ill of the Hindu religion.
During the raid, police seized religious materials, including the Bible.
Uttar Pradesh, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindu party, 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 tracks 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 led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, have passed similar laws.
Since Uttar Pradesh’s law banning illegal conversion of religion came into force, Christian leaders say more than 400 Christians have been arrested and jailed.
“This is a new trend in Uttar Pradesh. People come to prayer meetings and file false complaints,” said a Christian official linked to India’s largest state.
“Pastor Rajwar was leading a routine prayer meeting and there was no question of religious conversion,” the church leader said, adding, “Why can’t a Christian keep the Holy Bible and other Christian publications at home?
Christians make up just 0.18 percent of Uttar Pradesh’s more than 200 million people, who are mostly Hindu.
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