Church relieved after priest, others granted bail in Uttar Pradesh

By Jose Kavi

New Delhi, March 12, 2024: A Catholic bishop in Uttar Pradesh state on March 12 expressed relief after a court granted bail to a Catholic and 10 Protestants.

“Finally, I am able to give you good news. The District Judge [in Barabanki] has granted bail to Father Dominic [Pinto] and all those who were arrested with him. Praise the Lord,” says a message from Bishop Gerald John Mathias of Lucknow.

The 11 were in judicial custody since February 6, a day after they were arrested for allegedly trying to convert poor Hindus in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Bishop Mathias thanked all those who prayed and made sacrifices for the bail.

“So many people including bishops, priests, sisters, lay faithful, and youth have been praying. God has finally heard our prayers,” he added.

Besides Father Pinto, the court granted bail to Anil, Surju Prasad Gautam, Pawan Kumar, Sunil Pasi, Ghanshyam Gautam, Surendra Paswan, Rahul Paswan, Ramcharan Rawat, Dharmendra Kori and Suraj Gautham.

On February 5, the police in Barabanki district arrested Father Pinto, 41, and others after some Hindu hardliners complained that they had conducted a mass religious conversion gathering at Navintha, the pastoral center of the Lucknow diocese.

The following day, the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Barabanki, some 90 km northwest of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state, remanded them in judicial custody.

Father Pinto, who was ordained a priest in in 2013, is the director of Navintha where some Protestant pastors and around 100 Khrist Bhakts (followers of Christ) attended their routine prayer meeting. The “Khrist Bhakts” are not converted to Christianity but follow the teachings of Christ.

They were charged under the provisions of Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law and, if found guilty, they could be imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years.

Father Donald de Souza, chancellor and spokesperson of Lucknow diocese, dismissed the allegation of religious conversion and said Father Pinto had only given space to the Protestants to hold their program. Nobody was converted at the program or asked to become Christian, he explained.

“Our people are arrested based on totally baseless charges,” Father de Souza told Matters India after the arrest.

He pointed out that Father Pinto was not even attending the prayer gathering as it was a Protestant program. “Our priest only gave the building for their meeting.”

The police complaint filed at the Deva police station named 15 people, including five women, for allegedly violating the state’s stringent anti-conversion law.

The complainant Brijesh Kumar Vaishya accused them of luring poor Hindus from poor Dalit communities to Christianity.

Father de Souza alleged that the protesters even tried to assault women present at the center, but it was foiled. “They even staged a protest in front of the police station demanding to name the priest in the FIR as one of the accused.”

Persecution against Christians witnessed a sharp rise recently in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India.

Father Pinto was among 39 Christians remanded in the first two months of this year in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly violating the state’s stringent anti-conversion law.

Father Pinto’s bail application was postponed three times, the last being on March 1.

The anti-conversion law stipulates that people should inform district authorities of their plan to change religion 30 days before the planned conversion ceremony. They also have to prove that he or she has not been forced or “lured” to change faith.