Anti–conversion law lands Christian in jail in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal – The draconic anti–conversion law of Madhya Pradesh has netted another victim – an innocent Christian who has been charged by police authorities with “converting young children from poor Hindu families to Christianity” is now in jail and awaiting trial, Christian Today has confirmed.

According to national daily, Pioneer, Sunny John, an independent Christian worker who runs three schools for poor children was arrested by the Indore police on October 7, after members of the Hindu right–wing outfit, the Dharma Raksha Samiti (DRS or Religion Protection Committee) surrounded the local police station and demanded his arrest, alleging that he was “converting” innocent 11 Hindu children between the ages of 5 and 10 who were residing in his school–cum–children’s home at Sunder Nagar Extension in Indore.

Though local police inspector, D.P.S. Pariyar, asserted that John was “converting” poor children and his bank accounts showed that “he received foreign money,” yet, Indira Ayengar, the State Minorities Commission member, did not buy the story.

Questioning the arrest, Ayengar said that none of the children had “converted” into Christianity nor had they complained about attempted “conversion.”

“It means that anyone from the Hindu extremist groups can easily make allegations and pressure the police to arrest a member of the Christian minority community,” she said. “The administration is cheating the Christian community.”

Noting that John was simply providing food and education to children from low–income families, Ayengar warned, “This is a case of social policing, which is disturbing.”

John, who has been arrested u/s 3, 4 and 5 of the Dharma Swatantraya Adhiniyam (Freedom of Religion) Act of 1968 for failing to inform district administration about the “conversion” ceremony, may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years and be made to pay a fine of up to Rs. 10,000 (USD $ 230).

Whereas Section 3 of the Freedom of Religion Act states, “No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religious faith to another by the use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means nor shall any person abet such conversion,” Section 3 (1) of the Dharma Swatantraya Rules of 1969, states that a “conversion” is to be reported to the administration “within seven days.”

When contacted by the national daily, Hindustan Times, the 11 children, who were allegedly “converted” by John, stated that they were taught and fed daily but denied that any foreigner ever visited them.

Though the children were taught prayers about Lord Jesus and were shown Christian cassettes, yet, “none of them wore any cross or had any other overt signs of being Christians,” it reported.

According to the newspaper, John vehemently denied that he had “converted” any of the children and only taught and fed them in his three schools under the names of Rewa Mission School at Sunder Nagar Extension, Ghata Billod and Vishwas Nagar in Pithampur.

Though, members of the DRS also alleged that John was not a man of good character and accused him of having an affair with the wife of another man and for killing him, yet, these claims were “unsubstantiated,” the police confirmed.

On an earlier occasion, a Christian couple was also arrested under the draconic anti–conversion laws in Madhya Pradesh (see Christian Couple Arrested On Conversion Charges http://in.christiantoday.com/news/gen_575.htm.)

Madhya Pradesh is one of the strongholds of Hindu fundamentalists in India. Till date, only four states in India have passed laws to combat “unethical” or “forced” conversions. Madhya Pradesh passed the first definitive anti–conversion law in 1966; Orissa in 1967; Arunachal Pradesh in 1978; and Tamil Nadu in October 2002. However, Tamil Nadu scrapped its anti–conversion laws following the defeat of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Presently, the Madhya Pradesh government is revising the Dharma Swatantraya Adhiniyam (Freedom of Religion) Act, in an attempt to stem conversions in the state.

According to 2001 Census figures, Christians account for just 170,381 of 60.3 million residents in Madhya Pradesh.