Police had to rush to a community hall after members of right-wing organisations stormed into the hall complaining that a Christian pastor was trying to convert a group of Hindus in Belagavi on Sunday.
A team of city police officers went to the community hall in Maratha colony, where a Christian Pastor was conducting Sunday prayers after a dozen members of Sri Ram Sena disrupted the meeting. The Hindu activists alleged that Pastor Lema Cherian was trying to convert the Hindus of the area by calling them to the hall in the name of Sunday prayers. The activists stopped the prayers and locked up the hall till the police arrived. The police opened the doors and asked the group members to go home.
SRS leader Ravikumar Kokitkar said a group of Pastors from outside the State was touring villages and towns in the Belagavi district and was actively involved in converting gullible Hindus. He alleged that the Church was seducing poor Hindus by giving them money, sewing machines and bags full of rice and sugar. “The government has failed in curbing such illegal activities,’’ he told journalists.
Pastor Cherian, however, maintained that he was not engaged in conversion. “I was only leading a prayer meeting of interested persons and not attempting conversions. Such meetings are regularly held on Sundays. We have informed the local police about this meeting. We have not forced anyone to come here. People have come here on their own. We are not doing anything against the law. We are only practicing the rituals of our religion, which is our fundamental right,’’ he said.
A police van is stationed near the hall. The situation is under control, police said.
