On February 11, an attempt to convert around 400 people to Christianity in a private hotel in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur came to light. Upon the complaint of Hindu organisations, the police reached the spot, stopped it and arrested two evangelists and their eight followers for converting poor people to Christianity by luring them for money.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the alleged religious conversion cases that came to light in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
After the conversion racket was busted, it was revealed that as many as 20,000 poor and vulnerable people of Bharatpur, Rajasthan have so far fallen prey to the trap of religious conversion laid by this gang of evangelists who promised material benefits to those who convert to Christianity. It began with the gang of evangelists organising small prayer meetings where they distributed free rations to the poor to lure them to convert to Christianity. To gain their trust these evangelists cured minor ailments of those who came there. In addition, they resolved other financial problems of these people.
Gradually, aid worth lakhs of rupees was credited to the accounts of these impoverished individuals and the conversion program that was being held on a small scale converted to large-scale programs. They were now being held in large farms, resorts, and hotels where thousands of people were invited and converted to Christianity through allurements.
Now, the investigation into the conversion racket has produced some shocking details about the entire situation, including the possibility of money laundering and funding received from foreign institutions.
In an exclusive ground report, the Hindi media outlet Bhaskar disclosed that controversial pastor ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh, who runs a propaganda YouTube channel, was the mastermind behind the Christian conversion trap that was exposed in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. He used to transfer funds directly into the recipient’s accounts. To oversee his conversion racket in Bharatpur, Bajinder Singh employed Ajay Singh. Originally a resident of Shrinagar a village in Rupbas, Rajasthan, Singh moved to Pipla village especially to look after Singh’s conversion business. Ajay Singh and his entire family were involved in the conversion activities.
Locals have reportedly stated that individuals received incentives ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for religious conversion. The former Sarpanch Tuhiram claimed that he had previously alerted Ajay Singh against the illegal conversion activities he was partaking in, but Singh had refused to listen. Ajay Singh had reportedly become a Christian priest himself. The police, in fact, have even obtained a certificate from him.
Bharatpur, Rajasthan Christian conversion racket has links with an Italian organisation
The name of Labhana Ministry, an Italian organization, has emerged in the Bharatpur conversion racket. Conversion certificates issued by this particular organisation have, in fact, also been recovered by the police. The Labhana Ministry, to fulfil its goal of increasing the number of Christians in society, is reportedly funding conversion rackets operated by several Christian missionaries in India, where the impoverished and vulnerable are converted through various incentives and allurements. Besides Pipla Village, other areas where these conversion centres are operating are Kanjoli, Gundwa, Bajhera, Noh Bahamdi, Bahnera, Rupbas, Gaghina, and Bayana in Rajasthan.
Christian conversion racket in Bharatpur, Rajasthan received funds from other companies
The two people arrested in connection with the Bharatpur conversion racket were Kunwar Singh Jatav, a Bharatpur local and Shailendra Singh Jat who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad. A large amount of propaganda material was recovered from them.
Now, it has been revealed that both these accused have links with a company named LMN, which not only funds such conversion programs but also gifts Bibles to people. Additionally, Kunwar Singh used to receive Rs 1 lakh every month from ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh which he, in turn, used for day-to-day expenses incurred to organise such conversion programs.
Bharatpur becoming a hotbed for religious conversion
Meanwhile, Bharatpur Superintendent of Police Mridul Kachhawa confirmed that two back-to-back incidents of religious conversion came to the fore from Bharatpur, Rajasthan. On February 11, an incident of the alleged conversion of about 400 people in a private hotel in the city came to light. Upon the complaint of Hindu organisations, the police reached the spot, stopped it and arrested two people. On February 14, a similar case came to light in Pipla village of the district, in which people had fled from the spot, but one person has been arrested.
Kachhawa added that given these incidents of the past days in the district, an SIT has been formed under the supervision of the Additional Superintendent of Police. The objective of the SIT is to investigate and stop such incidents in the district.
Is Pastor Bajinder the main accused or is there a greater conspiracy going on?
It may be recalled that on Sunday, February 11, 2024, an alleged attempt to convert hundreds of people to Christianity in a hotel came to the fore. Following a protest from Hindu organisations, some people were taken into custody and interrogated. These organisations alleged that people linked with Christian missionaries gave Rs 500-500 to the women. In addition, these people were offering to deposit Rs 40-50 thousand in the bank accounts of those converting to Christianity.
In this program, Bajinder Singh was connected live from Chandigarh and was converting people. The evangelists conducting the conversion program claimed that they could even bring a dead child back to life and could even cure deadly diseases like cancer. Kunwar Singh Jatav and Shailendra Singh Jat along with their eight followers were arrested. However, the eight followers, who were held under section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, were later released on bail.
Responding to these developments, Vishva Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) Bharatpur president Lakhan Singh alleged the involvement of these persons in conversion for the last two to three years.
Both the arrested accused told the police that they were mere pawns and that the main racket was being run by the controversial ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh who was using live video feeds from Chandigarh to convert others. They confirmed that they have been associated with Bajinder Singh since 2020 and that Singh has converted more than 20,000 individuals in Bharatpur alone.
Notably, the conversion event that took place on February 11 came to the fore when a lawyer named Sandeep Singh reached the hotel ‘Sonar Haveli’ to book the marriage hall for a friend’s wedding. He noticed that about 400 people were present there in the banquet hall of the hotel and 15 people were present on the stage. They were being converted to Christianity after being made to swear by Jesus.
Controversies revolving around Prophet Bajinder Singh
Prophet Bajinder Singh is a controversial pastor from Punjab who has made headlines several times for his alleged ‘changai meetings’ where he claims 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 the 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 2021, he was accused of looting Rs 80,000 from a family claiming to get their dead daughter back to life.
In August 2021, 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 2021, 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.
