Hindu activist group Kalinga Rights Forum has filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) urging the statutory body to ask Odisha DGP to register an FIR against Balangir district Sub-Collector, Lambodar Dharua, for assisting massive Christian conversion event by the controversial ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh of Punjab.
Kalinga Rights Forum shared pictures of Balangir district Sub-Collector Lambodar Dharua meeting Karyakartas of the SC-ST Rights Forum, that filed a complaint with him against the pastor for organising the conversion event. The activist group also shared the picture of the complaint submitted to Lambodar Dharua. The Hindu group Tweeted how despite proof, Lambodar Dharua, the sub-collector of Balangir, Odisha not only refused to meet with the Karyakartas, but he also denied receiving the complaint against the pastor and his forthcoming event.
“Today (May 27), the Hindu activist group, while informing that they had filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), also stated how Yesterday (26th May 2022),Sub Collector Lambodar Dharua Called Karyakartas of SC ST Rights Forum at 6:30pm to meet him with Complaint , But again Today he denied that No One Came to meet him & he waited till 7pm. But Photographs Says a different story , Karyakartas did meet him,” Tweeted Kalinga Rights Forum on May 27, Friday.
Yesterday (26th May 2022),Sub Collector Lambodar Dharua Called Karyakartas of SC ST Rights Forum at 6:30pm to meet him with Complaint , But again Today he denied that No One Came to meet him & he waited till 7pm
— Kalinga Rights Forum (@KalingaForum) May 27, 2022
But Photographs Says a different story , Karyakartas did meet him pic.twitter.com/oGX3JAJUQk
On May 26, in a long thread of Tweets, the Hindu activist group explained how the Balangir district Sub-Collector, Lambodar Dharua, has turned a deaf ear to appeals and complaints urging authorities to cancel the event of the controversial Punjabi pastor who is accused of mass conversion through his alleged “changai meetings” where he claims to perform miracles and healings.
In its first Tweet posted on May 26, Kalinga Rights Forum thanked the Twitter user @SCSTForum for filing a complaint against Bajinder Singh’s event scheduled to take place in Balangir district in Odisha with an aim to convert Tribal Hindus to Christianity.
Extremely Thankful to the Team of @SCSTForum for Filing the complaint against Bajinder singh conversion event in Bolangir!!
— Kalinga Rights Forum (@KalingaForum) May 26, 2022
The Fight is not Over !! https://t.co/DroiO1JDTC
Later in the day, the Hindu activist group put out another thread of Tweets wherein it informed how despite complaints being filed with the Balangir SP and the office of the Collector and District Magistrate, Balangir, Odisha, to take action against the pastor under necessary sections of the Odisha Freedom of Religion Act & Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, the authorities turned a deaf ear.
Complaint Filed with @spbalangir & @CollectorBgr to take action u/s Odisha Freedom of Religion Act & Drugs & Magic Remedies(Objectionable Advertisements)Act against the event by Bajinder Singh Ministries (Punjab) in Balangir with an aim of converting Tribal Hindus to Christianity pic.twitter.com/wwGrEcMa1z
— Kalinga Rights Forum (@KalingaForum) May 26, 2022
It said that the Karyakartas of SC ST Rights Forum, along with filing a complaint, also called the Balangir districts Collector and SP several times “But NO ACTION was Taken by Administration to Stop / Ban the event Look How Bajinder was marketing his conversion”.
“SubCollector of Bolangir Gave Permission for Conversion event of Bajinder Singh,” Tweeted Kalinga Rights Forum sharing screenshots of the posters of ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh’s event put up across the district.
“Whats really unfortunate to see the Bolangir Adminstration Denial to Act even after getting a detailed complaint of the Number of Acts Violated by Bajinder Singh which are actually enacted by Odisha Parliament !! Odisha has Anti conversion Law !! Still no action But Appeasement,” the Hindu activist organisation remarked, expressing displeasure with the Odisha government’s appeasement policies.
It may be noted that one of Bajinder Singh’s recent events that was scheduled for Mumbai on May 12 at MMRDA Ground was in the news after it was reported how three Bollywood actors namely famous comedian-turned-preacher Jhonny Lever, actress Rakhi Sawant and Naagin series fame Sonia Singh had voiced their support for ‘Prophet’ Bajinder and urged people to attend his meeting.
Controversies revolving around Prophet Bajinder Singh
Prophet Bajinder Singh is a controversial pastor from Punjab who has made to headlines several times for his alleged ‘changai meetings’ where he claim to do miracles and healings. Singh was born into a Jat family in Haryana’s Yamunanagar. He was arrested and sent to jail for a murder case where he came in contact with a pastor and got inclined towards Christianity.
“He used to read Bible daily and got converted,” revealed police officials privy to the investigations. Kickstarting his business in 2012, Bajinder Singh started holding Sunday prayer meetings for ‘healing’ and gradually became popular.
In 2018, he was arrested by Police in an alleged rape case in Zirakpur, Punjab. Singh was picked up by the police at the Delhi airport when the self-styled Christian Godman was about to board a flight to London. The victim had alleged that Singh lured her in 2017 on the pretext of taking her abroad.
He then sexually assaulted her at his house in Chandigarh and made a video of the same, which he then used to threaten her. Reports suggest that the victim had paid the accused pastor a sum of three lakh for promising her to be taken abroad.
Singh was accused of looting people in the name of healing. In April last year, he was accused of looting Rs 80,000 from a family claiming to get their dead daughter back to life.
In August last year, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote a letter to Mandip Singh Brar, Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh, seeking action against Singh for using a minor boy for forceful religious conversion activity. The action by the Commission was initiated after a video featuring a child had gone viral on social media.
In November last year, he made it to headlines after former CM of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi and actor Sonu Sood were scheduled to attend his meeting in Moga. Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a protest against him, after which CM Channi decided to stay away from the event
