India’s top court has asked district authorities in a central state to restore the permission for holding a prayer meet by a top evangelist after it was revoked, reportedly at the behest of hardline Hindu activists.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court on April 10 said, “Prima facie we find that the revocation of the permission is not justified,” and imposed a stay on it.
The bench headed by Justice B R Gavai asked the district collector of Indore in Madhya Pradesh state, to permit the prayer meeting to be addressed by evangelist Paul Dhinakaran, who heads The Jesus Calls Ministry.
The event will be held in Indore, the financial nerve center of the state ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We are happy that the Supreme Court has stayed the arbitrary order and given us justice,” Suresh Carleton, the chief organizer of the program, told UCA News on April 11.
We had scheduled the program on April 10 but the Supreme Court order came on the same day. Thus, we had to cancel it, Carleton said.
“We will now hold the event at the earliest,” he added.
Dhinakaran, who is based in southern Chennai city, is a well-known evangelist in India and conducts prayer meetings across the country. More than 100 “Prayer Towers” have been established under his leadership in India, according to reports.
Around 8,000 Christians from different denominations were expected to attend the meeting in Indore, Carleton said.
The district administration on March 22 gave the nod to hold the prayer meeting, scheduled for April 10.
But on April 6, hardline Hindu activists under the banner of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (all-India Hindu grand council) complained to the Indore police commissioner.
They alleged religious conversion activities and sought cancellation of the permission for the event.
On April 7, the administration revoked the permission without giving notice to the organizers, said Carleton.
“It was a conspiracy and the district administration joined hands with the Hindu groups,” Carleton said.
A Christian group s approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a stay order but it declined. So the group moved to the Supreme Court.
The top court order “has vindicated how Hindu groups spread blatant lies” against the tiny Christian community in the state and the authorities oblige “without applying its mind,” Carleton noted.
Madhya Pradesh is among 11 states in the country where a stringent anti-conversion law is in place. The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act bans conversion from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, other fraudulent means, allurement, or promise of marriage.
Christians, who make up less than 1 percent of the state’s 72 million people, accuse hardline Hindu groups of targeting their prayer meetings, Church-run schools, hostels and orphanages, under the guise of religious conversion.
Several Christians including bishops, priests, pastors, nuns and laypeople in the state are among those facing charges under the draconian anti-conversion law.
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