Indian Court Rules Christians Can Hold Home Prayer Meetings

pastor in a remote village in India’s largest state of Uttar Pradesh remembers the Sunday in March 2023 when persecution became real to him. He was leading a group of 13 people in worship as they sat cross-legged on a mat covering the cement floor in his home. In time with the music, he shook a tambourine while parishioners clapped loudly. Suddenly, about 20 men dressed in saffron entered the small room shouting, “Jai Shree Ram! (Hail the Lord Ram).” They dragged the pastor by his collar out the door as they beat him. Police quietly waited outside as the mob chased out the worshipers. Soon after, authorities booked the pastor under Uttar Pradesh’s anticonversion law, claiming he was forcibly converting Hindus. CT agreed not to use his real name or identifying information, as he fears reprisals for speaking out. After nearly three years and multiple court hearings, he secured bail under stringent conditions. Charges against him are still pending, even as a Christian relief organization aids him in his legal battle. He is currently stuck in a limbo, neither cleared of the case nor convicted of any wrongdoing. Since he is on bail and charges against him are still being heard, he is cautious about divulging specific information. Until that fateful morning, violence against Christians seemed distant to the pastor, something that he would read in the news involving big churches. “I never imagined they would find us,” he said. “We were just worshiping quietly in a remote village in our own home.” Last month, the Allahabad high court, which has jurisdiction over Uttar Pradesh, ruled in a separate case that prayer meetings held on private property do not require any prior permission. The ruling has encouraged the pastor as well as other Christians arrested for house church gatherings. The high court invoked Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, affirming that freedom of religion is a fundamental right and religious prayer meetings within one’s own private premises are not unlawful. The ruling is significant given that the number of violent incidents against Christians in Uttar Pradesh has ranged from 100 to 300 in the past five years, according to the United Christian Forum (UCF). Since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power across the country, Uttar Pradesh has recorded a total of 1,317 incidents, much higher than any other state in India. The real figures could be even higher, as the UCF’s data is based on self-reporting by the victims of persecution.