A Christian prayer meeting was cancelled in the country’s IT capital Bengaluru on Apr 8 after complaints were lodged that this could facilitate forced conversions in the city which was to host two American preachers for this event. The cancellation came just about 12 hours before the prayer meeting was to be held. Nearly 1,000 people were expected to attend the meetings spread over April 8 and 9. It was cancelled in the wake of protests lodged by Hindutva groups like the Bajrang Dal.
In Bengaluru, the first complaint was filed by one Girish Bhardwaj, who wrote to the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office — a police wing that tracks foreigners visiting Karnataka — that two American evangelists were in India for “religious conversion,” in violation of their visa norms.
“The two foreigners had applied for Indian visa only to attend religious campaigns. Clearly, they are misleading the Indian Consulate,” he alleged.
Later Bajrang Dal convenor Keshav Nayak filed a police complaint that this progra-mme was “aimed at converting innocent Hindus, was being held daringly in public, where cash would be offered to the converts. As such, it hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindus.”
