ICC Note: Ten or more Christian pastors were arrested alongside their families last Sunday during church in northern India in efforts to convert fellow church members. Although, forced conversion is illegal in India, it is predominantly used as charges against the church, rather than a law to protect the church from forced conversation into Islam.
09/27/2018 India (The Christian Post) – At least 10 pastors were arrested with their families last Sunday as they worshiped in church services across the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a leading persecution watchdog has reported.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Nations’ accredited NGO that serves in over 20 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, reports that authorities in the state have continued their crackdowns on Christians this week.
In addition to the 10 pastors and families, police are said to have also arrested three more believers on Monday and threatened another pastor in the state in an attempt to get him to stop holding services.
“Recent events in Uttar Pradesh are deeply worrying and indicative of a concerning increase in religious intolerance in India,” CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement. “The arbitrary arrests by the police go against the rule of law and we call on the government of India to ensure the release of all pastors currently held in detention, and to work to protect the right to freedom of religion of belief for all Indians, as guaranteed by the Constitution of India and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party.”
According to CSW, Pastor Bahavan Ram and his church in Kariyabar were disrupted during their Sunday services by police after Hindu nationalist groups claimed to that Bahavan was converting people.
In some states in India it’s considered a crime to forcibly convert someone through coercion or allurement. Often, forcible conversion laws are used by Hindu radicals to launch criminal complaints against Christian leaders.
But in Ram’s case and that of the churchgoers in Kariyabar, the police were not able to find any proof to support the accusation of forcible conversion and no arrests were made in that case.
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For interviews with William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
