Persecution increases in Uttar Pradesh under harsher anti-conversion laws

Uttar Pradesh is seeing an escalation in attacks and misuse of anti-conversion laws against Christians. Local Open Doors partners explain what the modified laws will mean for believers.

Pastor Rishi* and his family were celebrating their adopted daughter’s birthday when police surrounded their house. Hindu neighbours had sent a false tip-off that the event was mass coerced conversion. Police later arrested Rishi and his wife and filed a case against them, accusing them of breaking anti-conversion laws.

Such incidents against Christians are becoming increasingly common, especially in Pastor Rishi’s stat of Uttar Pradesh, which is in the process of implementing stricter anti-conversion laws. Between January and September 2024, nearly 600 church services were attacked and disrupted by Hindu extremists – while in August and September, local Open Doors partners reported that more than 30 pastors have been arrested on false charges of coercive conversion. A third were released on bail, while the rest remain in custody.

Resentment against Christians

“Our local partners have confirmed that the churches with a high Dalit population are mostly attacked,” says Priya Sharma*, one of Open Doors partners in India. Dalits are often regarded as the lowest in the hierarchical caste system, and many Christians in the country come from this caste. Sharma adds, “We believe the motives behind the attacks are deeply connected to this underlying issue.”

    “Churches with a high Dalit population are mostly attacked.”

    Priya*, Open Doors partner

In the recent elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost many Uttar Pradesh parliamentary seats to its opponent, Samajwadi Party, with a significant decline in support from the Dalit voters. Sharma sees it as another reason why Christian Dalits are increasingly vulnerable: “This change has probably fuelled resentment amongst the extremist groups supporting the BJP, leading to increased violent attacks on Dalit churches.”

Stricter anti-conversion laws

Meanwhile, the escalation in arrests of pastors comes hand-in-hand with proposed tightening of anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh. While anti-conversion laws purport to prevent forced or coerced conversion away from Hinduism, in reality they are abused to harass and target Christians and other religious minorities. Laws of this nature have been passed in 12 of India’s 28 states. Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law – called the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion – was recently made far stricter in an amendment on 29 July 2024.

Previously, only the individual allegedly facing coerced conversion, or their relatives, could file a report with the police; under the modified law, anybody can file a complaint. This makes pastors much more vulnerable and the law easier to manipulate to target believers.

Penalties for those found guilty are also considerably worse under the modified law. The maximum term of imprisonment increased from ten years to a life sentence, while the maximum fine of 100,000 rupees (£915) to 500,000 rupees (£4,575) for cases involving women, minors or Dalits. The average monthly salary in Uttar Pradesh is 21,000 rupees (£192).

The modified bill means that Christians and other religious minorities can be prosecuted anytime by anyone, even if they do not have any sufficient grounding. Moreover, a person can be imprisoned for a long term even without a charge sheet filed or court proceedings initiated, as it would be classified as a non-bailable offense. 

“Christians live in fear”

“The modifications in the bill show how conversion to other religions is perceived as a serious threat in Indian states, leading to such extreme penalties,” says Open Doors partner Rahul Reddy*. “The misuse of the law has significantly curbed religious freedom for those choosing to follow Jesus in India.”

    “The misuse of the law has significantly curbed religious freedom.”

    Rahul*, Open Doors partner

He adds, “It is sad that, in the world’s largest democracy, Christians live in fear. Even with the existing law, the Christian communities have lived under constant fear, for a simple statement from a religious extremist could land them in a critical situation.

“Thus far, hundreds of believers have been arrested by police. Many people have challenged the constitutional validity of this law, and all such cases are pending in the Supreme Court. However, the law is continually used to harass the Christians.”

Believers’ phones searched

Sonia Khanna*, another Open Doors partner from north India, agrees: “The gravity of the situation is such that when six believers visited the home of another believer in Ghaziabad district for prayer, someone reported it to the police.  Following a search of the believers’ mobile phones, the police made a case of coercive conversion based on the contacts lists.

“These situations are putting churches, especially the first-generation believers’ house churches, under a lot of pressure. Moreover, local intelligence units of the police are visiting centres owned by Christians. For these reasons, many house churches are opting for online worship, and Christian centres are either not lending their premises for Christian programmes or asking for documentation that declares ‘No Christian activity is being conducted’.”

Peaceful protests

Several Christian bodies have opposed the new anti-conversion law by organising protests and rallies in different parts of Uttar Pradesh, as well as speaking out to the media.

A peaceful protest on 26 October in Delhi, which borders Uttar Pradesh, united various Christian denominations to highlight unjust anti-conversion laws, the impact of the crisis in Manipur, and the statistic of ‘two attacks a day’ on Christians in India. The Delhi Christian Fellowship organised the protest, and released this video of the event:

Anti-conversion law in Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh’s neighbouring state Uttarakhand was, until recently, considered a less religiously polarised state – but the state’s BJP government have started putting up banners with a message which translates as: “Empowered Uttarakhand, Capable Uttarakhand, Taking firm steps against forced conversion.” The state’s anti-conversion law currently punishes coerced conversion with one to five years in prison, or two to seven years if a woman, minor or member of scheduled caste is concerned.

“Such banners are aimed at creating a misconception and hatred among the general population towards Christianity,” says Sharma. “The anti-conversion law in Uttarakhand was first introduced in October 2018. Later, it was amended into a stricter law in November 2022, and the misuse of it is escalating.

    “Uttarakhand is turning hostile towards Christians and other religious minorities.”

    Priya*, Open Doors partner

“There are many government-registered hostels run by missionaries for decades that were shut down due to constant harassment from the Hindutva [extreme Hindu nationalist] government. A strict watch is being kept over several Christian retreat centres to monitor their activities. Uttarakhand, once considered a safe state with lesser number of persecution incidents, is turning hostile towards Christians and other religious minorities.”

Unprecedented levels of violence

Sharma continues, “The current fundamentalist governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have created an environment of fear, endangering the lives of Christians by tightening anti-conversion laws. In the past few years, attacks against pastors and the closure of churches have reached unprecedented levels. Attacks against believers have been cruel, with more stringent laws in place.”

Another Open Doors partner, Nitya*, believes other states ruled by the BJP are likely to follow Uttar Pradesh’s lead, if the amended bill is approved. “There could be a nationwide crackdown on conversions, labelling all of them as forced or via allurement, creating serious implications for religious freedom,” she says. “Please pray and hope that the Governor of Uttar Pradesh does not approve the modified anti-conversion bill.”

Join the Indian church in praying that the bill will be recognised as unconstitutional, and that religious freedom will flourish in the world’s largest democracy.

Persecution increases in Uttar Pradesh under harsher anti-conversion laws

Courtesy : Opendoorsuk

Note: This news is originally published in opendoorsuk.org and was used solely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights