Christian missionaries arrested for conversion activities in Palghar where Sadhus were lynched
Alvin M. Keeling
3 min read
On August 8, 2022, four Christian missionaries were arrested in Dahanu (Palghar district) for forcibly converting a “Vanvasi woman” into the fold of Christianity. She was alone in her house when the missionaries burst in. As always, they made him lucrative offers that included financial support. They were trying to convince her that all her problems would be solved if she became a Christian. When she refused, they started threatening her.
However, the villagers came to his rescue and reported him to the police. The police had arrested the four defendants for forced conversion. The missionaries were: Clement D Bella, Mariyama Phillip, Pinky Sharma Kaur alias Paramjit and Parshuram Dhingra. The police convicted them for several violations of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including wanton provocation, defilement of the place of worship and trespassing on houses etc.
The area around Palghar is home to a large portion of the Vanvasi (tribal) people. There have been many cases where many villagers have been targeted by Christian missionaries. According to some sources, apart from forced conversions, the missionaries also spread hatred of Hindu religion, culture and worship methods. An alliance/coalition of left wing naxalites and missionaries is said to be working hand in hand to spread their nefarious ideologies. Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram also believes that this alliance is responsible for the 2020 Palghar Mob Lynching which resulted in the brutal deaths of two sadhus and a driver.
On April 30, 2019, there was a clash between Christian preachers and angry locals in the areas around Palghar over disrespect towards Hindu deities. The local population complained that these missionaries insulted the Hindu gods; calling Lord Hanuman a monkey and Lord Ganesha an elephant. They said that “how can such false gods protect you”. Days before this incident in 2019, a Christian-run school began forcibly converting students to Christianity.
The list is not over yet, a man called Mohan Lazarus in the state of Tamil Nadu is said to have referred to Hindu temples as “Fortresses of Satan”. The state of Goa, in particular, was at the receiving end of Catholic Christian politics. The famous Inquisition of Goa initiated by the Portuguese Saint Xavier reveals a horrifying testimony faced by Hindus, Muslims, Jews and even Protestants.
The local Konkani language was removed and people had to speak the Portuguese language. Those who refused were burned alive and imprisoned where they had to undergo inhuman torture inflicted by the Jesuits. Temples were vandalized and churches were built on the spot. People had to flee to areas under Maratha rule to avoid persecution. In India’s northeastern states, “Christian terrorism” is widespread. People from the Hmar tribe in the northeast also had to place bloodstained crosses in the famous Kamakhya temple in Assam.
Some examples of Christian terrorist groups include the Tripura National Liberation Front which claimed responsibility for the Singicherra Bazaar massacre. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland is a Baptist-backed organization particularly active in Assam. On September 24, 2018, four members of a Christian terrorist group called Greater Cooch Behar Liberation Organization were arrested by police in Siliguri/Darjeeling district.
The missionaries achieved considerable success in converting the majority of the North Easterners as well as the tribal and lower classes of Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar. India’s original Hindu/Vedic culture was threatened by rogue Islamic entities and now faces a new front posed by Christian missionary activities. Although the Indian government has launched a “Ghar Wapsi” campaign to convert Hindus who have been forcibly converted to Islam and Christianity, there is an immediate need to detect and destroy the link between missionaries and Naxalite groups. . In addition, there is a requirement for supervision of the activities of left-wing parties, namely the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI and organizations active in India.
