A case of mass conversion of Hindus has come to light in Buxar, Bihar, where three pastors have been accused of converting 50 to 60 Hindu men and women to Christianity. A video of the same has also surfaced in which the pastors can be seen removing the vermilion after ordering the women to take a dip in the Ganges and then making a cross on their heads.
The video sparked a flurry of protests from Hindu organizations. The pastors have been taken into custody by the police. They, however, claimed that the people came on their own volition and decided to convert after reading the Bible. The matter came to light on 14th November and pertains to Mahavir Ganga Ghat of Nagpura village under the Simri police station.
Two of these pastors, Raju Ram Masih and Rajiv Ranjan Ram, are from Bihar while the third one Samuel is from Tamil Nadu. According to Pastor Raju Ram of the Dalit community in Bhojpur, a lot of people approached him and shared their illnesses with him.
“I told them to take medicine. I will pray to Jesus that their illness gets cured,” he claimed. “Those whose sufferings were relieved, want to adopt our religion of their own free will. When they came, we told them about the Bible. We taught them about Christianity. We did not force anyone. All these people came here of their own free will,” the pastor added.
He then demanded, “For this reason, we insist that the authorities conduct a fair investigation because everyone can choose to follow any religion.”
According to Simri Station House Officer Kamal Nayan Pandey, the primary investigation has revealed that all these people have come from villages. They were brought to Ganga Ghat for Guru Diksha according to the Bible. The local administration has taken this incident seriously and warned that strict action will be taken for violating the anti-conversion law.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh stated that earlier the tribals were harassed. Now, the impoverished are being lured into conversion. According to him, a strong law prohibiting conversion is necessary. He charged that every district is troubled by this. He added that it is unfortunate to convert in the name of health and education by claiming miracles.
