Dhirendra Krishna Shastri (Photo: wikipedia.org)
By UCA News reporter
Oct 26 2023
A Christian organization in a northern Indian state has filed a police complaint against a Hindu godman, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments by making baseless statements on religious conversion.
Jatinder Gaurav of the Global Christian Action Committee said they complained against Dhirendra Krishna Shastri to the police in Amritsar, the holy city for Sikh people in Punjab state, on Oct 23.
Gaurav alleged Shastri targeted the Christian community and used a derogatory word for them. He demanded that the police register a case and take legal action against the godman.
Shastri, the head priest of Bageshwar Dham, a pilgrimage site in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, is considered a rabble-rouser.
On a three-day visit to Punjab, he said Hindus were being lured to convert but the “evil forces” would not be allowed to do it.
Christian groups took offense to a particular word he used for them and sought an apology.
Shastri refused and said: “I have come to know that some people have a problem with my visit. They are objecting to why I used the word… I used it… If you have any problem, stop offending innocent Hindus. We will not offend you.”
The godman then appealed to the Punjab government to make an anti-conversion law in the state “because innocent people are being exploited.”
“Foreign powers should not be allowed to enter Hindu temples and Sikh gurudwaras. They should not be allowed to sway people away from any religion,” he added.
Gaurav said the godman is trying to disrupt the peace in Punjab by targeting the Christian community wherever he goes.
“The police assured us that appropriate legal action would be taken on our complaint. We will intensify our protest if no action is taken,” he added.
Father Mathew Kokkandam, the vicar general of Jalandhar diocese, said there is no truth in Shastri’s claims on religious conversions.
“The Catholic Church does not promote or propagate religious conversion and there is no record of any forced conversion in Punjab,” he told UCA News on Oct 25.
Pastor Jaspal Mashi, a pastor of a local Pentecostal church based in Amritsar, said Shastri’s visit to Punjab has a political agenda.
“He is trying to garner the Hindu vote ahead of next year’s general election by dividing people in the name of religion,” he alleged.
The Pentecostal pastor said Christian groups across the state were offended by the godman’s remarks and would file multiple complaints with the police in their respective cities and towns.
Christians in Punjab constitute 1.26 percent of the Sikh-majority state’s over 30 million population. – UCA News
