“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfil the law of Christ.” This is what they tell the poor, make them believe in, help them with money and basic facilities and then lure them to be the ‘child of God’! And the poor, very innocently thinking of the support given to them at that very moment of their need, consider the advice and change the way they pray. In one such event that took place in the Baramati (NCP-ruled) city of Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, Pastor Sunil Jadhav and Prophet Dr Anish Vijagat could be seen indulging in evangelical activities by alluring the poor, needy people of the city, to shun their respective faiths and come under the tutelage of Christianity.
In the three-day ‘Prophetical Meeting’ organized by Pastor Jadhav, who himself is a resident of the Vasant Nagar area of Baramati, people were asked to embrace Christianity and then engage in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ kind of rally.
“Believe in Christianity. Believe in the existence of Jesus. Praise the Lord. If you change now then only you’ll be able to change several people across the country. You never know we might engage in a Bharat Jodo type of Yatra and make people staying across the country believe in Christianity. Praise the Lord,” he said.
The evangelical event was organized at the city’s Mission High School which is looked after by the Conference of Churches of Christ in Western India. The event, which was scheduled to begin at 6 pm on December 8, kick-started at around 7 pm after 30-35 people showed up on the ground on which huge arrangements were made anticipating a crowd of 300 people to show up. The pastor initially looked at the minimal crowd and asked them to pray from the stage and praise the Lord as he waited for 300 seats to fill up.
Sister Mercy insulted Hindus as she praised Christianity
The saga began when Sister Mercy took over the stage to sing praises of the Lord. She, adopting a ‘unique’ accent at first, said that all those people who were present at the event were personally selected by the Lord and that those who were invited but failed to attend had not arrived by the Lord’s will. While several poor Hindu women (wearing Sarees, Bindi, and Sindoor) could be seen at the event, Sister Mercy looked at the sky and issued orders to the Lord to make ‘new’ attendees feel his presence. The video of the incident was shot by OpIndia.
She further sang praises to the Lord while demeaning the Hindu sages and poor people from the stage. In one of her so-called praises for the Lord, Sister Mercy happened to insult Hindus. “Yeshu ka Darbaar re hume pyara lagat hai, Tere Darbar me kaun kaun aye, Pandit, Murakh, Gavar re hume pyara lagat hai,” the so-called praise read. And the ‘praises’ continued for the next hour until the Chief Guest of the event, ‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat, arrived at the spot.
‘Murti puja has no value, what will that stone understand,’ converted Christian woman was alluring Hindu women
Meanwhile, some of the first-time Hindu attendees at the event could be seen being allured by the already-converted Christian women. The latter tried to make the poor Hindus believe in Jesus and quit the Hindu religion for the ‘betterment’ of their family. “God is invisible. We should feel him. And not worship the stones (murtis) as Hindus do. What is that stone going to understand? We, humans, are encircled with sins. To make our future generations free from sins, we must worship Jesus,” the woman prattled on as she tried to persuade the attendees to join Christianity.
The Hindu women who seemed bewildered by whatever was happening were then sent ‘calm vibes’ by the pastor from the stage who held his hand high at the sky first to gather the so-called religious vibes and then resorted to continuously shaking his hands towards the Hindu women. As the series of events continued, ‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat, the Chief Guest of the Prophetical meeting entered the ground. In his tight blue suit and accompanied by 3-4 of his obsequious followers, Vijagat stated that he was not just a ‘Prophet’ but a Bishop and that more than 300 evangelists were working under him in his Pune-based NGO named Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries.
He also claimed that he was an ‘International Human Rights Officer’ and an ‘Anti-Corruption Officer’ before he glorified the religion and delved into evangelical activities in front of audiences consisting of Hindus. However, according to his social media page, he is a member of two Non-Governmental Organizations named the Human Rights Council of India and Anti Corruption and Media Investigation.
He attempted to gaslight attendees saying that “the organizers had to face several legal problems and oppositions for executing this prophetical meeting however this had to happen as it was God’s will”. As he said this, Sister Mercy along with one of her companions, circulated the red baskets seeking donations from the attendees.
‘Pastor Sunil Jadhav is self-proclaimed, he runs his own Church at his house’
One of the local Christians who agreed to provide information on the condition of anonymity for security reasons said that Pastor Sunil Jadhav is a self-proclaimed pastor and that he has built his own Church on the terrace of his home. “He was earlier a member of the old Church but then he decided to set up his own Church on the terrace of his home. Now there are a certain number of people who follow him and go to his Church,” Joel (name changed) said.
Joel, who is a born Christian, meanwhile, also said that these kinds of events are organized by the authorities to pull non-Christian people into the Christian faith. “This is like mass advertising. They invite people and show them that all their problems would be solved after accepting Christianity but they don’t force anyone. They just do what they have to do to attract people to Christianity. Sometimes people feel the difference. But then these people imbibe on their minds that the Lord has come to their help. Then they ask them to attend the Church on Sundays and then they are given Baptism,” Joel said.
Further, Joel said that some things in Christianity are wrong. “Like Conversion is wrong. You ask people to come and join forcefully. How can it be correct? If you have a good reason which can influence others to join in without any force, that is okay. But promoting religion, and getting people baptized is so wrong. Many times authorities at the Church bombard people saying that we are the true people of God and others are sinners but during COVID I realized that now what? Why couldn’t the so-called mediators between humans and God save the world?” Joel said.
She also added that pastors and bishops exploit religion and fears among people by promoting their religion and pocketing that money to better their own personal lives. “This is sad,” Joel said. “There are some school-like institutions that make Pastors and similar other ranks at the Church. But then there are some people who are self-proclaimed pastors and bishops who defame the entire community. Pastor Sunil Jadhav has his own Church. Maybe he is a self-proclaimed pastor. There are many.”
The gathering for the third day got cancelled after OpIndia contacted the Sangh administration over the rampant conversion bid underway
The event was scheduled to be organized for three days ahead of Christmas—one day at the Mission High School which is looked after by the old Church—and two days at a renowned public community hall named ‘Jyeshth Nagrik Sangh’. The administrator of the Sangh, M W Joshi, while talking to OpIndia, stated that they (Christians) had taken the hall for the event saying that they wanted to organize a prayer meeting and that they had no place for it.
On asking about the conversion attempts and false claims made by the pastor on the poster, Joshi said that those people just wanted a place to pray together. “No, no there is no conversion happening there. They said that they would just pray and sing praises of the Lord,” he added. According to the hoardings displayed in several places in the city, the Prophetical meeting was organized to ‘cure’ sick people and solve all social, and financial problems of the poor. “This is God’s will that we come together in Christianity,” the posters put up across the city read. However, it seemed that the Sangh official had no idea about the evangelical motives of the organizers. On the third day of the event, after OpIndia communicated with Joshi, the gathering was cancelled and the locks could be seen placed on the gates of the venue, the Jyeshth Nagrik Sangh.
‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat, who led the gathering for two days, is the owner and founder of a Pune-based NGO named ‘Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries’, which is engaged in attracting more people to Christianity. The introduction written on the social media page of the NGO reads, “Glorious evangelical prophetic ministries are working for increasing the kingdom of God with New soul.” He also is a member of two other NGOs named the Human Rights Council of India and Anti Corruption and Media Investigation.
Some of his videos posted on the YouTube channel of his NGO Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries showed the ‘Prophet’ anointing the attendees with religious oil. In the event that happened in the city on December 8 and 9, he could be seen asking people to get anointed so that they could sanctify others.
Anti conversion law in Maharashtra is a must, says local RSS Member
Criticizing the practice of religious conversion and the recent event that was executed in the city, one of the local RSS member Mukund Kulkarni said that these kinds of events should not be organized in the first place. “This is all sham. They (Christians) lure the poor and needy people and offer them money or basic facilities. They also make sure that the poor people from other religions like Hinduism hate Hindu religious Gods and Goddesses and start believing in Christianity. Jesus or Christianity is not bad, in fact, no religion. But luring people, giving them fake claims, and forcing them to convert is wrong,” he said.
Advocating for the implementation of anti-conversion law in Maharashtra, he added that legal provisions are necessary so that action against such illegal gatherings can be taken. “These things should stop. I also appeal to Hindus to not fall prey to such evangelical attempts and believe in our deity for our better lives,” he said.
