"Christian Arrested Under Anti-Conversion Law"

"Christian Arrested Under Anti-Conversion Law"

("Compass," October 11, 2005)

Indore, India - A Christian worker is in jail in Indore, in the
north-central state of Madhya Pradesh, after authorities arrested him on
October 7 for “converting young children from poor Hindu families to
Christianity.”

Indore police arrested Sunny John under the state anti-conversion law
after members of the Dharma Raksha Samiti (DRS or Religious Protection
Committee), a Hindu extremist group, surrounded the Heera Nagar police
station protesting “conversions” on October 7, reported the Pioneer, a
national daily.

John, an independent worker, runs three schools for children. He was
accused of converting 11 children between the ages of 5 and 10 who were
residing in his school-cum-children’s home at Sunder Nagar Extension in
Indore.

“The complainants, Mr. Mansingh Patil and others, have alleged that John
was converting children to Christianity,” D.P.S. Pariyar, police
inspector of the Heera Nagar Police Station, told Compass. “John’s bank
account also shows that he received foreign money.”

No Evidence of Conversions

Indira Iyengar, member of the State Minorities Commission questioned the
arrest, noting that none of the children had converted to Christianity or
complained of 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.”

John was simply providing food and education to children from low-income
families, Iyengar said. “This is a case of social policing, which is
disturbing,” she added.

The police registered the case under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Dharma
Swatantraya Adhiniyam (Freedom of Religion Act) of 1968.

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 4 says that thus attempting to convert a minor can be punished
with up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 10,000 rupees
(approximately $235).

Section 5 requires a “religious priest” who takes part in a “ceremony
necessary for conversion” to send word of the conversion to the district
administration. If religious officials fail to do so, they can be
imprisoned up to one year and/or fined up to 1,000 rupees (about $25).

According to Section 3 (1) of the Dharma Swatantraya rules of 1969, a
“conversion” is to be reported to the administration “within seven days.”

Children Support John's Claim

The 11 children who were studying in John’s school told the Hindustan
Times newspaper that John had been teaching them and providing them food
daily. They denied that any foreigner visited them.

The newspaper also said that all the children had been taught prayers
about Lord Jesus and were shown Christian cassettes. “However, none of
them wore any cross or had any other overt signs of being Christians,” it
reported.

John denied to the newspaper that he had converted any of the children. He
said that he and his family ran three schools under the names of Rewa
Mission School at Sunder Nagar Extension, Ghata Billod and Vishwas Nagar
in Pithampur.

The newspaper quoted members of the DRS as saying that John was not a man
of good character. They also accused him of having an affair with the
wife of another man and for killing him.

Police, however, told the newspaper that such allegations were
“unsubstantiated.”

A Christian couple, Jagdish and Grace Nayak, had earlier been arrested on
charges of attempted forced conversion leveled by members of the DRS in
Indore in July. (See Compass Direct, “Indian Couple Arrested for
Attempted Forced Conversion,” August 4.)

On August 21, the Nayaks, including their 2-year-old child, were attacked
by a mob of Hindu extremists. (See Compass Direct, “Mob Attacks Prayer
Meeting in Madhya Pradesh, India,” August 29.)

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