Indian lawmakers are seeking to restrict evangelism by banning “magical healing,” which could penalize Christians who offer prayers or any “unscientific” practices to comfort sick people.
Last month, the northeastern state of Assam introduced the bill, which Christian leaders say unfairly targets their community’s custom of praying for the sick. Although healing meetings in Indian churches have drawn people to Christ, local Christians insist that prayer is a legitimate and universal spiritual practice and not an unethical conversion tool, as claimed. Hindu nationalists.
The proposed ban, which pass the assembly of 126 member states, on February 26, declared that:
No person shall take part in healing practices and the propagation of magical healing for the treatment of any disease, disorder or condition relating to the health of a person (related to the human body) directly or indirectly giving false impression of treatment to cure diseases, pain or problem for human health.
A first-time offender faces one to three years in prison, a fine of 50,000 rupees (about US$600), or both. A subsequent conviction can result in up to five years of imprisonment and/or a fine of 100,000 rupees (approximately US$1,200).
The bill must be ratified by the President of India to become law. Assam Assembly leaders say the ban on healing is not aimed at any particular religion, but they have made clear their aim to restrict evangelism and conversion.
“We want to curb evangelism in Assam, so in that direction, banning healing… will be a very, very important step” said Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam. The state is governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling national party.
“Healing is a very, very risky subject, which is used to convert tribal people,” Sarma said. “We are going to test (this bill), because we think the religious status quo is very important. Whoever is a Muslim, let him be a Muslim; whoever is a Christian, let him be a Christian; whoever is a Hindu, let him be a Hindu, so that there can be a fair balance in our state.
The bill has drawn criticism from the Christian community and the opposition party.
The Assam Christian Forum (ACF), an umbrella body for all Christian churches in Assam, has spoken out against the ban, calling it a violation of religious freedom, and against lawmakers’ characterization of the prayer as a “magical cure”.
“Prayer is a universal practice across all religions, used to invoke divine healing,” the forum said. “Calling this magical healing oversimplifies the deep spiritual dimensions of faith and life.”
ACF clarified that Christian prayers for healing are acts of compassion, not conversion. According to forum spokesperson Allen Brooks, leaders fear that any prayer that might follow healing could be seen as “a motive to convert the other person to Christianity,” in which case “everyone will go to jail.”
In neighboring Nagaland state, the Chakhesang Baptist Church Council criticized Assam’s bill, calling it a misguided ban on Christian practices in a secular country. The Council commended its own State for defending the right to freedom of religion.
The council’s executive secretary, C. Cho-o, also objected to the term “magical healing” as being dismissive of supernatural intervention. “Healing is the work of God, not the work of Christians,” he said. “So when divine healing takes place, Christians cannot claim responsibility for it, nor can they be blamed for it! »
Officially called Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, the bill criminalize any “unscientific healing practice with ulterior motives to exploit innocent people.”
In addition to the punitive provisions, the bill authorizes the police “to enter and inspect any practice within the local limit of such person’s jurisdiction where they have reason to believe that an offense under this Act has been or is likely to be committed. It gives officers a free hand to seize any advertisement, record or document as evidence.
Healing meetings are common in India and have drawn many people to Christ after personally experiencing healing or seeing their loved ones recover. Local Christians can share testimonies of the healing power for the Church. (They shared their responses anonymously with CT for security reasons.)
One leader saw how healings can be an entry point for the gospel, attracting people seeking an answer to their physical suffering.
“Signs and wonders abound, and many people know Jesus first as a healer and then as they walk with Him as their Lord and Savior,” he said. “But to call it a conspiracy or magic would be to minimize it. This is certainly not evil, but the grace of God.
One convert shared how transformative healing ministries have been for her in the three years since she started attending church.
“My family was surrounded by bouts of illness and infirmity. Since I started following Christ and my family joined me, we have freed ourselves from the slavery of illness,” she told CT.
Right-wing Hindu groups have been doing this for years alleged that Christian groups are engaging in unethical conversion tactics under the guise of “healing crusades” in India. They accused Christians of promoting superstitious beliefs, making false claims about miraculous healings, and using deception to convert people, especially those from economically disadvantaged communities, to Christianity.
The organizera weekly associated with the BJP, published a special report expressing that the Assam bill will stop Christian missionaries from luring “villagers with magical cures” and stop them from converting the tribals.
The Assam Christian Tribal Coordination Committee (ATCCC) has called on the government to goodbye the bill, expressing concerns that its current wording could be misused to target the Christian community.
Like other local Christians, the ATCCC said the bill should not link “magical healing” to proselytizing or conversion, as the Christian Church aims to share the teachings of love and peace of Jesus.
The committee urged the chief minister to ensure the integrity of the bill and uphold the secular principles of the country’s constitution while passing it, fearing that its current form may result in more harm than good.
The Angami Baptist Church Council (ABCC) of Nagaland has condemned the Assam bill, calling it an attempt to target Christian humanitarian work by misleadingly equating divine healing with “magic” used for conversions. He claims that Christian healing combines science and prayer, not magic.
The Council urged the “brother states” of northeast India to promote peaceful coexistence instead of sowing division through such discriminatory laws.
A pastor in Guwahati, Assam’s largest city, believes that even if the ban were enforced, it would not last long.
“In Assam, we have both tribals and non-tribals who are not obeying the law imposed in the state,” said Kamleshwar Baglary of Harvest Baptist Church.
He believes that migrants from other states are responsible for the recent political chaos in Assam.
“Most of the people used by Hindu fundamentalist organizations are paid workers to execute their plan in the state,” Baglary said. “They cannot rule Assam with their ideologies. »
While responding to the bill, the ACF also expressed concern over demands from pro-Hindu right-wing groups like Sanmilito Sanatan Samaj and Kutumba Surakshya Parishad, who have demanded that schools remove Christian symbols like statues of Jesus and Marie, alleging that the institutions are used for religious conversion activities.
The situation worsened with the display of anti-Christian posters on the walls of several Christian schools, including Don Bosco School, St. Mary School and Carmel School. These posters serve as an ultimatum to remove religious symbols within a specific time frame. The healing legislation in Assam has only added fuel to the fire.
Brooks, the ACF spokesperson, defended the schools as providing equal opportunities across caste, creed and gender, and clarified that ACF’s healing prayer services are not intended to conversion.
He argued that the new law unfairly targets the practices of the Christian community and undermines its long-standing service to Assam society. Christian missions helped preserve the Assamese language and established educational institutions that produced many notable figures, including former ministers and chief justices.
“Our destiny as a nation lies in our diversity, while respecting the individuality of each person,” he said.
