UP: Raids conducted at prayer meet, 9 held under anti-conversion law

Hindu Jankalyan Mancha’s national president Vijay Rawat led a raid on a Christian prayer held in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki area on November 7.

According to the reports, the operation was conducted in collaboration with a local police team and resulted in the arrest of nine community members accused of participating in religious conversion under the state’s anti-conversion laws.

The Sunday prayer meeting was attended by local Christian members who were targeted after allegations surfaced that they were being used to lure vulnerable Hindu community members into Christianity.

Rawat, the far-right leader claimed that such assembly meetings mostly have the agenda of conversion, an argument that has persisted frequently in areas where anti-conversion laws are enforced.

The anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh has led to a significant arrest of Christians. Following the enforcement of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act in 2020, approximately 1,682 people have been arrested, with a substantial number being Christians, including pastors and church members.

Recently, on Friday, October 25, a man identified as Rajesh also known as David was arrested in Rae Bareli city on charges of attempting to convert individuals to Christianity.

According to a police statement, the arrest follows a prayer meeting he organized in Baradar village where he allegedly claimed that conversion could lead to relief from diseases and offered financial assistance to those who converted.