Hindu extremists want to ban chaplains from visiting prisons in India

Newsroom  (14/04/2022 10:30,Gaudium Press) The radical Hindu Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and other radical groups want the police to ban Christian missionaries from visiting prisons in Karnataka, in the south of the country.

The Hindus disagree and claim that the Christians distribute copies of the Bible among the inmates, besides visiting the detention centres assiduously.

Their request came after a Hindu representative visited a detainee in prison and found a book of Holy Scripture.

The activists claim that Christians are trying to convert prisoners, which is prohibited in the Indian state, and that they should not be allowed to distribute religious texts.

Double standards

Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore decries the hypocrisy of the accusations, “If Hindu preachers are allowed to visit Hindu prisoners, why is it wrong for Christian preachers to see Christian prisoners?”

The state of Karnataka has been ruled by radical Hindu groups since 2014. The group’s animosity against Christians does nothing but increase.

Christians are accused, often fraudulently, of promoting forced conversions.

Forcing someone’s conversion is a crime in Karnataka, which can be punished by fine or imprisonment.

In this regard, Bishop Machado explained, “if there is evidence of forced or fraudulent conversions of others, let them act in accordance with the law, with evidence of conversion in their hands.” (FM)