IT raids on Pastors, brings to fore again problem of rampant conversions in Punjab

Successive governments in Punjab have failed to act against rampant conversions. In fact the administration has been bullied on several counts to arrest Sikhs who are speaking out against conversions

New Delhi, Feb 02: The Christian conversion menace in Punjab has yet again been exposed with the Income Tax (IT) department conducting raids at the residence of two pastors-Bajinder Singh from Jalandhar and Harpreet Deol from Kapurthala.

Singh who shot to fame after his song, 'Yeshu Yeshu' song went viral runs the Church of Glory, while Deol oversees the Open Door Church in Khojewala village.

Around 50 Income Tax officers from separate teams carried out simultaneous searches in Jalandhar, Amritsar, New Chandigarh, Kurali, Mohali and other locations belonging to the Pastors. Reports said during the searches, the IT sleuths seized documents related to properties, bank important and important projects.

According to the IT department, these Pastors run Churches under the guise of healing ministries. These are self-styled congregations that accept significant funding from foreign nations and are either registered was autonomous religious entires or as societies led by a Pastor.

Bajinder Singh who was lodged in jail in a murder case, came in contact with a pastor and got inclined towards Christianity. Singh was also arrested in 2018 for the alleged rape of a woman from Zirakpur in Punjab. There is also a case against Singh for looting a family for Rs 80,000 with the claim that he would miraculously heal their daughter Nandini who was suffering from cancer for many years then.

Singh was also in the news for using a minor boy to instigate people to covert to Christianity

Rampant conversions:

In Punjab the problem of conversion is not new. Successive governments have failed to to act against such Pastors, who are on a rampage to convert as many people as possible to Christianity. People have been making a beeline to The First Baptist Church, The Open Door Church&Jesus Healing Ministry, The Church of Signs and Wonders. Over the years, the 'Jesus Da Langar' has also become very popular.

The highest number of Neo-Christians found in Punjab are in the Majha and Doaba belts and also the border regions of Ferozepur and Fazilka in Malwa. Estimates show that there are 65,000 pastors in the state.

The year 2017 reported several incidents of violence owing to this rampant conversions. Many converts took to the streets and pelted stones and burnt tyres in protest against the administration. They said that those who had blasphemed against Jesus must be arrested. Following this ultimatum, the administration arrested four Sikhs.

Taking into account the scale at which this problem is rising, the acting Akal Takht, which is the highest temporal seat of Sikhism, Giani Harpreet Singh said that the Sikh community should seriously think about demanding an anti-conversion law in Punjab.