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A man named Michael Matthew in Indore (Madhya Pradesh) tore up a copy of the Hanuman Chalisa which is a Holy Book for a billion plus Hindus across the world. Matthew did this before a crowd that had congregated from various cities and states at the local church. Michael Matthew was in the process of covertly converting hundreds of Hindu citizens to Christianity.
The incident has been reported from the Hira Nagar area of Indore. On Thursday, 10th August, a group of local Hindu activists ventured into the church out of curiosity as there was a steady flow of people from various states and towns who were seeking directions to the place.
According to police, a man named Rajkumar Sen was standing outside his house in the Sharda Nagar area of Indore when a few people who were travelling in an autorickshaw stopped by to ask directions to the church. When asked what is the purpose of their visit, they gave elusive answers we are from Dahod (Gujarat) like they were there to learn tailoring skills. Some had even arrived from the Dhar district. When more such people were seen heading to the church, Sen and his friends followed them into the congregation and found several vehicles with registration plates of other states parked there. When they went into the church they saw the man named Michael Matthew tearing up the Hanuman Chalisa. He was telling the crowd that the only holy book in the world was the Bible and said some very problematic things about Hanuman Chalisa.
When the activists tried to protest against the same, Matthew’s allies Jomen Joseph, Abhishek Netram, Rekha, Sam Joseph, and Bejubi tried to push them out of the church compound. They even tried to offer conversion to the protesting youth saying that their salvation lies only in following the Bible.
Rajkumar Sen and others then filed an FIR complaining against the actions of Michael Matthew.
A similar fracas had erupted just 5 days ago in another covert conversion attempt made at the Akash Nagar area near Bajrang Nagar area in Indore’s HIranagar area. A tenant had begun calling unsuspecting and vulnerable locals to his house, holding prayer meets and attempting conversion.
Police had only counselled the accused and let them off in that case.
A similar incident happened on Monday 23rd January 2023 when a pastor of a church in the Jhabua district, after giving medicine to a tribal Hindu family in Indore, told them that their God has not cured them so they should convert to Christianity. The Hindu tribal named Man Singh complained to the police that pastor Resingh threw out the photos of Hindu deities from Man Singh’s house and gave him some money and Christianity-related books to read. Demanding forcibly that he must now convert to Christianity, Pastor Resingh said, “Your God didn’t heal. Our God has healed you. So now you become a Christian. Your God is less powerful. You have been healed by the God of Christianity.” Seven people (Pastor Resingh, his wife Umli, his son Khemraj, his friend Hakim, his wife Mangali, Man Singh Padada, and his wife Kalibai) have been arrested in the case after a case has been registered at the Kshipra police station against them.
In an unrelated incident, as per a report in an English daily, Suresh Kalton of the United Christian Forum said that there are 60,000 Christians in Indore and a large number of them are associated with social welfare activities pertaining to health and education.
It is pertinent to say that even a rumour of a Muslim or Christian holy book being defiled can potentially start off a riot anywhere in the world, especially in India. Yet, the so-called seculars will ask Hindus to remain tolerant and dissuade them from even taking legal action.
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