Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) addresses the media before the opening of the first parliamentary session in New Delhi on June 24. The parliament opened after an election setback forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi into a coalition government for the first time in a decade. (Photo: AFP)
A Protestant pastor along with his wife, and three other pastors are among 13 Christians jailed in separate incidents in a northern Indian state over allegations of religious conversion.
“It is an alarming situation. Within 20 days, 13 people went to prison because of their faith in Jesus Christ,” said a Christian leader who is helping Pastor Sanjay Kumar and his wife, Sunita Devi, to secure bail.
The pastor and his wife, who are parents of three children, were arrested in Azamgarh on June 21 by police in Uttar Pradesh. The state, governed by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has a sweeping anti-conversion law in place.
“We cannot even pray... never imagined such a situation in our country,” the Christian leader who did not want to be named told UCA News on June 25.
The series of arrests began on June 7 with Abhishek Masih and Anil Masih in Barabanki district. This was followed by the arrest of Durgesh Chauhan on June 9 in Ayodhya district.
On June 16, Pastor Paul, who was identified by a single name, and Nandlal Rajbhar were arrested in Ghazipur district followed by the arrests of Ram Chander, Anuj Kumar, Sarvesh Kumar and Hitna, identified by a single name, in Sitapur district on June 19.
The latest to be arrested on June 23 were Pastor Sarju Prasad from Ayodhya district and Pastor Naresh Kumar from Hardoi district.
The Christian leader said most of them were participating in house prayer meetings when the police arrived after being alerted by local villagers suspecting conversion activities.
The police arrested and produced them in local courts seeking they be placed in custody for further investigations.
“More than a dozen Christians are being accused of religious conversion even though there isn’t a single person whom they converted,” said a Church leader.
He felt the police action may be "the fallout of the general election where Modi and his party lost seats in Uttar Pradesh,” resulting in their reduced majority in parliament.
Uttar Pradesh, the largest and most populous state in India, is ruled by the BJP and has 80 seats in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament.)
The BJP won 62 of the seats in the 2019 general election but was reduced to 33 in this year's polls, the results of which were announced on June 4.
“The rise in persecution against the Christians stems from this electoral defeat,” said the Church leader who did not want to be named as he feared retribution.
Uttar Pradesh is likely to see a keen political contest in the future with the ruling party under pressure to regain its hold, according to analysts.
The state government is headed by Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu monk-turned-politician.
The draconian anti-conversion law was enforced by his government as an ordinance in 2020. It was adopted by the state assembly the following year as the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021.
Since the enactment of this law, Church leaders said close to 450 Christians, including Catholic priests and pastors, have been jailed in the state.
Christians make up a mere 0.18 percent of Uttar Pradesh's more than 200 million people.
