By Matters India Reporter

New Delhi: Six Protestant pastors, who were arrested for holding house prayer in a northern Indian village, thanked God the opportunity to witness Christ in jail.

“We got a rare opportunity to witness Christ among jail inmates,” said Pastor Bala Lakhandar, one of the pastors who were released on bail on May 20 after nine days in jail.

Pastors Chandan, Mangaleswar Prasad, Ram Hari, Nand Lall, Ranjeet Prasad and Bala Lakhandar were arrested on May 10 from the house of a believer at Salempur, a village in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh while attending a healing prayer session.

The police, however, let off 250 others who attended the prayer meet. The pastors were taken to the station and later sent to jail charging them with offences such as inciting hatred between religions and attempt to riot among other heinous charges.

They, however, were released on bail with bond of 20,000 rupees each on May 20 after the prosecution failed to prove the charges when it came up before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Ramkrishna Bharadwaj for hearing.

The court also found contradictions in the First Information Report (FIR) and asked the prosecution to prove the charges but it failed, says Sanjay Kumar Masih who played a key role in the pastor’s release.

“The situation in Uttar Pradesh is very alarming for Christians,” he told Matters India on May 22. “The right wing Hindu activists are attacking Christians with impunity especially after Hindu seer Yogi Adityanath took over the administration of the state in April last,” he alleged.

Pastor Lakhandar, however, has a different take on all these persecutions.

“We had trouble in the jail – some even pulled our hair, took away our bed roll, and verbally abused us for being Christian and forced us to sleep on the floor. But at the same time God gave us opportunity to speak about Jesus to jail inmates,” he added.

“It seemed that before we reached the jail the message was spread among the prisoners that Christians converting Hindus were reaching jail. And first three days, other inmates treated us with contempt and later came to listen to us about Jesus Christ, apparently after seeing our cool and composed nature even after abuses.”

“I am glad that we got opportunity to speak about the love of Christ to jail inmates,” he said and added, “I believe it was a God given gift to go to jail.”

Pastor Lakhandar said even villagers speak many things against Christians, but after they hear about Christ and his message of love, many would want to join Christianity.

Agreeing with him Pastor Mangaleshwar Prasad says ,“It is true that we were harassed but God turned it for our advantage that we witnessed Christ among the jail inmates, despite hurdles.”

Recalling the incident he told Matters India “when we gathered for prayer right wing Hindu group activists objected but we ignored them.”

The Hindu militants then informed the police who came along with media and arrested them, he added.

“There was no provocation as alleged from our side and we were there only to offer prayers peacefully,” insists Pastor (Mangaleshwar) Prasad, the main organizer of the prayer meet at the house of Nand Lall, also a believer.

The police, he alleged, were hand in glove with the Hindu activists and took the pastors into custody ignoring the pleas. The FIR was filed without any evidence, he asserted.

“The Hindu activists and the police abused us in the police station and their supporters did the same in the jail,” Pastor Lakhandar said.