Pastors Baljinder Singh and Harpreet Deol have a huge following in northern Punjab and other parts of the country
Pastor Harpreet Deol of the Open Door Church is seen addressing a gathering of believers. His was one of the premises raided by Indian tax authorities in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Jan. 31. (Photo: khojewalachurch.org)
Indian tax authorities conducted raids on premises linked to two evangelical pastors in the northern state of Punjab suspected to be involved in tax evasion and unaccounted foreign funds.
Nearly 50 officials from the Income Tax Department reportedly came to the premises of Pastor Bajinder Singh of the Church of Glory and Wisdom and Pastor Harpreet Deol of the Open Door Church on Jan. 31 and seized currency notes, and documents related to banks and property deals.
Local media reported that the pastors were running house churches and healing ministries – Singh in Tajpur village in Jalandhar district and Deol in Khojewala village in Kapurthala district –and have been receiving huge funding from foreign countries.
Both the pastors operate from sprawling campuses and have several branches of their ministries with huge numbers of followers across India and abroad, the Indian Express reported.
The raids gain significance in wake of a series of protests and clashes between evangelical Christians and the radical Nihang Sikh community in Punjab last year.
Sikh and Hindu organizations have accused Christian missionaries of using miracle cures and fraudulent practices as bait to do conversions.
The chief of Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal authority claimed that poor Sikhs and Hindus were being targeted by the missionaries, a charge denied by Christians.
Soon after, a group of radical Nihang Sikhs attacked a Christian gathering near Amritsar on Aug. 29 last year, which was followed by vandalism at a Catholic church, where the car of a church functionary was set on fire in Tarn Taran on the intervening night of Aug. 30 and 31.
Minakshi Singh, general secretary of the Christian organization, Unity in Compassion, said the minority community had come clean regarding allegations of religious conversions last year and will be proven innocent even after the latest raids.
She said the growing number of churches and prayer halls had become a cause for worry among Sikhs and Hindus in the northern state but there were “forced conversions by Christian missionaries” as is being alleged.
Bishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias, the apostolic administrator of Jalandhar diocese told UCA News on Feb. 2 that the government is well within its right to take action if it suspects any irregularities, but “what is the motive behind this investigation is not known and we have to wait till the investigation team finishes its task.”
Bishop Gracias said the state of Punjab has witnessed attempts to malign and browbeat the Christians in the past.
“But for the time being we have to wait and watch,” the prelate added.
Punjab is a Sikh-majority state and Christians form 1.26 percent of its 28 million population. However, it is alleged that many are converting to Christianity since the past decade.
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