06/18/2019 India (International Christian Concern) – On May 9th, 2019, two Christian men were arrested in northern India on false forced conversion charges. A Hindu man, residing in the same village, accused Ajmer and Lakhi of “insulting his religious feelings”, saying that they tried to convert him to Christianity by force.
The two men were charged under India’s Penal Codes 298 and 295(A), under which many other Christians are falsely accused. The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians commented that the “baseless conversion allegations led to the conversion charges” and as a result, “communal tensions are high in rural areas” because of the quickness that many believe whatever accusations are levied against Christians. Luckily, the men were released the following day, with charges dropped.
Oftentimes, these types of charges are used to persecute Christians or other religious minorities or to gain some type of revenge when the perpetrator felt they were treated unfairly. Christians live in a climate of fear and intimidation often and must take extra steps to protect themselves from such false accusations. Anti-conversion laws are being actively enforced in eight of India’s 29 states.
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