India: Pastor Arrested on False Accusation of Bribing Hindus to Convert

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A pastor in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state has been arrested by Hindu authorities who falsely accused him of bribing Hindus to become Christians, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Pastor Shyam of Ayodhya division, Uttar Pradesh was arrested along with a member of his congregation on July 29, ICC reports. He was arrested after police received a false complaint from Pandey Dubey, the coordinator of a local Hindu nationalist group.

“Pastor Shyam and his friend under sections 3 and 5 (1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act 2021 and section 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India’s official criminal code,” ICC said in its report.

“Dubey’s complaint alleged Pastor Shyam stopped him, five of his friends, and another person in a public place and told them that if they converted from Hinduism and accepted Jesus, they would receive INR 10,000, or roughly USD 120, and they would get free housing.”

In a statement about the situation facing Christians in India, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy group reports: “More and more states are […] implementing anti-conversion laws, creating an environment where any Christian who shares their faith can be accused of a crime, intimidated, harassed and even met with violence.”

With frequently abused harsh anti-conversion laws in a growing number of its states, Hindu nationalist-led India ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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