Indian High Court to Overturn Evangelism Ban

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

NEW DELHI (Worthy News)-- The Bilaspur High Court in India has opposed a ban preventing non-Hindu missionaries from entering villages in Bastar district.

According to Barnabas Aid, the Bilaspur court put the Bastar government on notice after a petition by Christians that questioned the constitutionality of a ban that prohibits all non-Hindu religious activities, thereby undermining religious freedom.

Back in May, a resolution by the Sirisguda Village Council banned the religious activities of all non-Hindu religions. Although the resolution was adopted by more than 50 of Bastar's self-governing towns, the ban was immediately opposed by the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, which filed a petition with the High Court.

Chhattisgarh already has laws that prohibit religious conversion by "force, fraud or allurement," but these laws are often misused to prohibit Christian evangelism.