Daniel Stephen Courney, a 40-year-old American Christian evangelist, has become a figure of global controversy. Known for his street-corner sermons in India, Nepal, Israel, the UK, and the United States, Courney long positioned himself as a fearless preacher. But behind the cloak of evangelism, troubling revelations have emerged.
In December 2024, ‘India Today’ published an investigation that shook the security establishment. A video surfaced of Courney in Manipur, discreetly supplying drones, bulletproof jackets, and military gear to Kuki militants amid ethnic violence.
Hard evidence exposes Daniel Stephen Courney, an American preacher, providing drones, military equipment, & training to #Kukimilitants in #Manipur.
He incites hatred against India & #Meiteis, calling them "enemy."
Authorities must act fast to track himpic.twitter.com/tugR1dPY6H— Abiema Lisham (@AbiemaLisham) December 18, 2024
The footage, dated between August and September 2023, showed him actively training and assisting militant groups against Meitei Hindus. This was not just proselytisation, it was interference in India’s internal conflict, bordering on direct support to armed insurgents. (Source: India Today. (2024, December 20). US man gifted drone to Manipur ultras: Foreign agent or trouble-making evangelist?
The incident came on the heels of Courney’s earlier notoriety. He had been deported from India in 2017 for overstaying his visa and engaging in prohibited religious activities. Yet he resurfaced in Nepal and India in 2023, again operating under the radar. Reports claim that he facilitated conversions in Hindu-majority areas of Nepal and used social service fronts to push missionary agendas. His social media presence, often laced with anti-Hindu and anti-BJP rhetoric, added fuel to communal tensions. Eventually, Nepalese immigration authorities arrested him in December 2024, citing unlawful activities.
The Courney case is not an isolated story of an overzealous missionary. It highlights a much deeper problem: the way foreign agents, often disguised as aid workers or human rights activists, find safe havens in vulnerable regions of India. Today, disturbing signs suggest that West Bengal may be the next ground where such activities are flourishing.
Just days after Courney’s arrest, a startling picture emerged from Bengal. Photographs revealed him to be associated with a Kolkata-based NGO named the International Human Rights Council. The revelation is significant; it shows how individuals with histories of subversive activity can quietly embed themselves in the ecosystem of NGOs, which often operate with foreign funding.
A special report published in August 2025 exposed how “treatment” or “faith healing” camps are used as fronts for religious conversions. Villagers in areas such as Jangipara (Hooghly district) and Mecheda (East Midnapore) were lured with offers of free medical relief or faith-based healing. Once engaged, they were gradually steered toward Christianity through spiritual counselling and community pressure during evening prayer sessions. In a similar incident in June 2025, missionaries in Baruipur (South 24 Parganas) attempted to convert villagers by promising miraculous healing. The effort was thwarted when local Hindus rose in protest, causing the missionaries to flee. Each time, the script is the same: charity first, conversion later.
For decades, NGOs have been a double-edged sword in India. Many genuinely work for social upliftment, education, and healthcare. But many others, particularly those with heavy foreign backing, have used welfare programs as covers for proselytisation. This is not a new phenomenon. In fact, as early as the 1950s, the Niyogi Committee in Madhya Pradesh warned about missionaries using schools, orphanages, and hospitals as tools for conversions.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was tightened. Hundreds of NGOs lost their licenses when they were found diverting foreign funds for religious or political activities. Yet, Bengal has increasingly stood out as an exception. Reports of faith-healing camps, secret prayer meetings, and inducement-based conversions are on the rise.
The question arises: why has Bengal become fertile ground for such activities? Unlike other states, the West Bengal government rarely takes strict action against missionary-linked conversion drives. There is little political will to confront them. Despite central FCRA regulations, many NGOs in Bengal operate with minimal scrutiny. Loopholes allow funds from abroad to continue flowing. And, Rural Bengal still has large pockets of poverty. Families struggling for survival are most susceptible to inducements disguised as aid.
The issue of conversions is not unique to Bengal. Across India, states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha have witnessed waves of missionary activity. In Chhattisgarh alone, the assembly has debated how foreign-funded NGOs exploit tribal populations for conversions. Uttar Pradesh has filed multiple FIRs under its anti-conversion law, with courts handing out jail terms for conversions carried out by fraud or inducement.
India’s anti-conversion laws, present in about a dozen states, prohibit conversion by force, fraud, or inducement. Yet global organisations like the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) accuse India of curbing religious freedom. Critics abroad often ignore the ground realities of deceptive conversions and the socio-cultural destabilisation they bring. An issue update released by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, examines the anti-conversion laws enacted in 12 Indian states. The report argues that key provisions of these laws violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
For ordinary Bengalis, the situation is deeply unsettling. Educated villagers who witness these activities ask a simple question: why is the state government silent? Why are authorities not acting when evidence is in plain sight? This is not just the question of one individual or one community. It is the collective concern of people who see their neighbourhoods changing rapidly. They understand how conversions happen step by step, often hidden under the veil of charity.
The saga of Daniel Stephen Courney is a cautionary tale. A foreign evangelist who not only preached but supplied drones and military aid to militants should never have found space in India’s sensitive conflict zones. His presence in Bengal, linked with an NGO, is a reminder that vigilance is necessary not only at the border but also deep inside civil society. West Bengal today faces a quiet but dangerous campaign of mass conversions disguised as welfare. Left unchecked, it risks social fragmentation and long-term instability. The people are asking questions. The government must answer.
Faith is sacred. But faith, when manipulated through poverty, deception, or foreign interference, becomes a weapon. Bengal cannot afford to be the next ground where this weapon is sharpened.
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