Pastor Balchand Jaiswar from Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh state in north India has been sentenced to six years in jail along with two members of his congregation, Gopal Prajapathi and Neeraj Kumar, under Uttar Pradesh’s “anti-conversion” law.
The three men were sent to Azamgarh jail after a final court hearing on 26 September. The verdict came as a shock to Pastor Balchand and his family as they had expected that he would be acquitted. Instead, the District Court judge sentenced them to six years imprisonment and fined them Rs 50,000 (around €560) under Uttar Pradesh’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 3/5(1).
Reacting to the sentence, Pastor Balchand’s wife Vandana (24) said that they are very sad and discouraged at the verdict. The couple has two children – a daughter Riyanshi (5) and son Ashish (3). A Church in Chains partner is helping the family with living expenses.
Background
The case dates back almost four years to 19 December 2020, when Pastor Balchand, Gopal and Neeraj were arrested during a prayer meeting. They were immediately sent to jail under anti-conversion charges. After spending 25 days in jail they were released on bail and they have attended numerous case hearings since that time.
More than sixty Christians are currently imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh under anti-conversion charges.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (the umbrella organisation and central network for Evangelicals in India, representing over 65,000 churches across the country) issued a Declaration at the end of its recent Annual Convention in which it expressed concern at recent developments: “Together with Civil Society and other minorities in the country, we note with concern the increasing stringency of anti-conversion laws, such as the recent amendment in Uttar Pradesh that extends punishments and broadens the scope for complaints. People fear such weaponisation of these controversial laws, which infringe upon the fundamental right of freedom of religion, could be misused to harass law-abiding citizens.”
The United Christian Forum (UCF), a human rights group with countrywide presence, has opposed the “draconian” amendments to the anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh, saying it will further encourage misuse of the law. The Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed in the legislative assembly in July. The group presented a seven-point memorandum to Anandiben Patel, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, arguing that the proposed new law goes against the right to religious freedom guaranteed in the Constitution and that its provisions are opaque and prone to widespread misuse.
UCF recorded 585 incidents targeting Christians in the year to September 2024.
(Church in Chains source, Evangelical Fellowship of India, India Today)