Seven Christians have been accused of violating the stringent anti-conversion law in two separate incidents in the northern Indian Uttar Pradesh state. Police arrested Pastor Ram Udeshy Sahani, Babulal Sahani and Vinod Kumar on July 14 in Maharajanj district. They were charged with converting a man by allegedly offering money and promising miraculous healing, according to a complaint lodged by his wife, Chanda, who was identified by only her first name. The police in Senduria village said the woman alleged in her complaint that her husband, who was identified by a single name, Anil, removed portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses from their home after his conversion. The three Christians were arrested but Babulal Sahani and Vinod Kumar were released on bail on July 16. “The police did not invoke the provisions of the anti-conversion law” against the two, said a lawyer dealing with their case. Four other Christians were accused of converting Hindu villagers in the Moradabad district by a leader of the Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council). Police reportedly arrested two among them and were on the lookout for the two others. VHP local leader Pankaj Singh Pal registered the complaint at the Thakurdwara police station. He accused the Christians of converting Hindus by offering them “fridges, televisions, bicycles, motorcycles and sewing machines among other things” and “a cash reward of 25,000 rupees [about $300].” Pal alleged that those ready to become pastors were offered a monthly remuneration of 35,000 rupees and household expenses. The VHP leader further alleged that some 50-60 persons were already converted to Christianity and this had agitated the local Hindus. “Both cases were baseless and aimed at giving a negative image to Christians,” said Father Mathew from the Indian Missionary Society in Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest and most populous state. It is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. The state enacted a stringent law, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Reli-gion Act, in 2021. “Anti-conversion cases are part of the right-wing conspiracy against Christians,” Father Anand Mathew of the Indian Missionary Society told. The priest said that the police and media in the state were being used to target the tiny Christian community in the state. Some 24 Christians were already put behind bars in Uttar Pra-desh for violating the anti-conversion law after the general election results were announced on June 4. Only six persons “had got bail,” said a Church leader helping them with legal matters. Christians make up a mere 0.18% of Uttar Pradesh’s more than 200 million people, most of them Hindus. However, the state tops in cases of violence against Christians in the country, according to published records.