Appeal to oppose Dutch missioner's expulsion

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has appealed to Christians to write to the Indian government questioning the recent expulsion of a Dutch missionary in Kashmir.

Father Jim Borst of the Catholic Church was asked to leave Kashmir by the end of July. The Dutch missioner has been running two prominent educational institutions in the state and has been living there since 1963.

Fr Borst was issued a notice to quit India after allegations of conversion against him. The veteran missioner had a valid visa till 2014.

"The state of Jammu and Kashmir succumbed to the pressure of the Muslim fanatics against the Mill Hill Christian worker," said the EFI.

One of the two schools also has been attacked on two occasions. "The alleged underlying grudge behind the attack is that other schools run by some groups of people are not in a position to compete with the Christian school," EFI noted.

"For about 8 years, these groups have led a campaign against Fr Borst alleging that he was carrying out forceful conversions among the local people in the name of providing education," it informed.

Fr Borst meanwhile has approached state and federal officials to revoke the Foreigners Registration Office order.

Borst told the officials that the expulsion was the result of a mishandled police investigation.

Officers investigating the allegations, he said, never spoke to him directly but gathered details about him from neighbors and other sources which resulted in them getting "incomplete, distorted or even plainly wrong" information, according to the UCA News.

It was a 'conscious' and 'deliberate' attempt to force him leave the country, he said.