India Christians Fear Execution For Conversion
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW DELHI (Worthy News) – Christians have appealed for prayers after the chief minister of India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh announced plans to impose the death penalty on those convicted “of forced or fraudulent religious conversions.”
Devoted Christians fear they could be targeted for sharing their faith with non-Christians in the mainly Hindu nation.
In a recent public meeting for International Women’s Day on March 8, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav equated such conversions with child molestation, adding that “both crimes warrant the imposition of capital punishment.”
“Our government will not tolerate conversion and misconduct. For criminals or those who are involved in religious conversion, we will ensure that they get the death penalty,” he said.
The state’s Religious Freedom Act, enacted in 2021, is intended “to protect” people from being “forcefully or fraudulently” converted from one religion to another.
ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS
Similar anti-conversion laws are also presently being enforced within ten other states throughout India, Worthy News learned. “Unfortunately, such laws have been widely abused,” cautioned Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC), which supports Christians facing persecution.
“Militant groups have stirred up violent mob attacks against Christians, falsely claiming that the believers were involved in bribery and other ways of tricking people into converting,” the group added.
VOMC said it was among Christians to “Pray that this intended change to Madhya Pradesh’s legislation will not be instituted and that followers of Jesus will no longer be falsely accused under India’s anti-conversion laws.”
Those identifying as Christians comprise just over two percent of India’s mainly Hindu population of roughly 1.4 billion people, according to official estimates.
Yet the Christian faith is spreading in India, prompting Hindu-led authorities to try to stop the trend with stricter anti-conversion laws in several states, Christian research suggests.
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