Three Indian Christians, including a Pentecostal pastor, have been arrested by the police for handing out evangelistic booklets and Bibles in some of the country’s villages.
Pastor Charlie John, Vishal and Keval Ram were arrested after some radical Hindu nationalists accused them of “forcibly” converting people, Christian Post reports.
They were reportedly distributing Christian literature and Bibles in Lalas village near Rampur city in the state of Himachal Pradesh, the newspaper quotes Asia News.
“I only offered the Bible, and I gave it to those who freely accept the Good News. If anyone refused, I didn’t insist,” Pastor John said.
“We didn’t convert anyone; I am even willing to offer the Bible, which is God’s word, even to the police.
“What we do is share the Good News with people, tell them about Jesus, without forcing anyone to convert.
The accusations made against me are totally false; I have never offered money for conversion of people.”
Christian Post reports that the state of Himachal Pradesh is one of the states in India that have “anti-conversion” laws, some of which have been enacted for decades.
It also said the laws allow Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks on them under the pretext of alleged forced conversion.
Hindus attack Christians with little or no consequences.
Indian population constitutes 2.5 per cent Christians and 79.5 per cent Hindus.
Open Door USA, a Christian watchdog, in its ranked India 10th among 50 nations of the world where Christians are most persecuted.
The organisation also said persecution in the country has increased since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya came to power in 2014.