by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Eighteen more pastors were arrested in India’s Uttar Pradesh state last week, on false charges of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity, CBN News reports.
Last week, a band of Hindu nationalists accompanied by a police escort demolished the Jeevan Jyoti Church mission center and its place of worship in the Jaunpur district on the grounds that it was built illegally, the Union of Catholic Asia (UCA) News reported. The building had been there for over ten years, and had been built with government permission.
Moreover, the nationalists ordered the arrest of pastors working at the center, CBN News reports. "Police so far have arrested 18 people associated with the mission, including Pastor Durga Prasad Yadav," a Pentecostal Church official from Uttar Pradesh, which is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, told CBN News. "They are in jail and efforts are being made to get them out on bail," the official added, requesting anonymity.
There are currently 89 Christian leaders imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh state, CBN News reports. "The government does not want Christians to organize prayer services as many people who attend them come closer to Christ and His teachings," Pastor Dinesh Kumar from Uttar Pradesh told UCA News. "Many Hindus follow Christianity but don't change their religion as they recover from illness and achieve peace after praying to Jesus. We don't convert anyone illegally, but still we are targeted, and our prayer services are targeted," he said.
Christians make up 14% of India’s massive population, the majority of which is Hindu. In a website statement about the situation facing Indian Christians, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy group explains: "Increasing numbers of states are implementing anti-conversion laws, supposedly to stop Hindus being forcibly converted to other religions, but in reality, they are often used as an excuse to harass and intimidate Christians who are just doing things like distributing aid or having a private church meeting.”
Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, India ranks 11th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.