Source: The New York Times
Yogi Adityanath, the new chief minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, during a news conference last month in Lucknow. CreditEuropean Pressphoto Agency
NEW DELHI — Police officers in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh were called to a Christian church in the Maharajganj district on Friday by members of a Hindu youth group who demanded that the officers investigate a group of Americans they believed were engaged in forced religious conversions.
When a team of police officers, led by Anand Kumar Gupta, arrived at St. Andrew’s Church in the village of Dadhauli, about 230 miles east of Lucknow, they found about 25 activists from the group Hindu Yuva Vahini with a written request for a police inquiry, Mr. Gupta said.
Inside the church, the police found nine foreigners, including American tourists, and a group of villagers involved in a prayer service, but no evidence of efforts to convert Hindus to Christianity. After checking the passports of the foreigners and ensuring that they all had valid tourist visas, the police allowed them to leave.
“We did not file any complaint as we found no such activity happening there,” Mr. Gupta said.
Categories: Asia, Christianity, Hinduism, India, The Muslim Times