Omar Rashid 
New Delhi: The allure of free coaching for the civil services, free meals and treatment of illnesses – these are the charges levelled in three recent cases in Uttar Pradesh where police have booked people for allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity through unlawful means. At least two of these cases were lodged on the complaints of Hindutva activists.
On October 2, police in Rampur district arrested four persons under UP’s anti-conversion law for allegedly trying to lure Hindu boys and girls to convert to Christianity by exposing them to Christian prayers at a coaching centre. Police said they arrested Himanshu Max, the manager of the coaching centre, in Khata Chintman village, along with a teacher Ashutosh and two other men. Max is a native of Uttarakhand.
Bhim Singh, the complainant in the case, said he had been studying at the centre for three months. In his complaint to the police, Singh, also a resident of Uttarakhand, alleged that the coaching centre would get poor Hindu girls and boys admitted through the allurement of free food and coaching for civil services examinations.
Singh alleged that Max and others tried to lure them to convert to Christianity by promising them free education and employment at par with their educational qualifications.
In the FIR, seen by The Wire, Singh also alleged that the manager and teacher at the centre took classes for civil services only for 30 minutes to 1 hour per day. The rest of the time, he alleged, was spent on teaching about the Bible and Jesus Christ and “praising the Christian faith,” calling it the best religion.
Every Sunday, they would hold a prayer meeting in a hall where along with the students, poor men and women from the neighbouring areas were also invited, said Singh. He alleged that the accused persons has converted some poor Hindus to Christianity through a number of allurements.
Superintendent of Police Rampur Vidya Sagar Mishra said that two persons were named in the FIR but two more names came up during investigation, after which all four persons were arrested.
In Ghaziabad, police lodged an FIR on September 29 under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 on the complaint of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member Mohit.
He alleged that a pastor would visit the area from Delhi and was part of a group of people who were unlawfully converting Hindu people to Christianity on the pretext of getting their illnesses treated. Mohit alleged that on September 29, a Sunday, 30-40 Hindus had assembled at the Ekta Public School and that they were being converted to Christianity through the recital of the Bible.
Ghaziabad police also arrested five persons, for alleged unlawful conversion and deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious sentiments, after a Hindutva activist accused them of carrying out religious rituals associated with Christianity inside a house for the purpose of converting poor Hindus. The FIR was lodged on September 24 at the Nandgram police station on the complaint of Naveen Singh, the city convenor of the Dharm Jagran, who said that he got to know about the alleged conversion from a Bajrang Dal activist Pankaj.
Singh alleged that when he, along with his activists and some locals, barged into the said house in Sevanagar area, some outsiders who belonged to the Christian community were busy with Christian prayers in the presence of the entire family. He alleged that he found material linked to propagation of Christian faith inside the house and that this “left no doubt” in their minds that conversion was going on.
Police said that the accused persons would encourage poor and illiterate Hindus to convert by alluring them with money and cure for illnesses.
The five persons who were arrested were identified as pastor Gerald Matthews Massey, Ravi Kumar, Ashish Massey, Rohan and Deepak Massey.
Photo: The four persons arrested in Rampur on the charges of unlawful conversion. Source UP Police