Christian mission accused of cheating and forced conversion

New Delhi – Atmik Vikas Trust (AVT), a Christian mission based in Uttar Pradesh, is currently under the police scanner after accusations were raised against it that the staff of the mission indulged in converting poor Hindus by promising them employments, Christian Today has confirmed.

According to Compass Direct, the police swung into action following complaints from former employees who lost their jobs in November 2004. Seven staff members of the AVT, a registered trust formed for the purpose of providing religious instruction and social development mission, viz., Pastor Yashwant Paul and his wife Monica of the Evangelical Church of God (ECOG), Squadron Leader (retired) M.M. Philip and ex–civil servant Mr. Lalchhuangliana, both AVT trustees, Dr. Raju Abraham, director of Kachawa Christian Hospital in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, Lieutenant Colonel Arun Kumar (retired) and Mr. Gurpreet Singh, have been arrested and are being interrogated.

“We gave the mission Rs. 20,000 (US $ 475) each when we had signed up for a training program,” the complainants alleged. “But the mission terminated our employments and assaulted and threatened us when we demanded the return of our money.”

“We were also forcibly converted by the mission and promised that we would be given jobs,” they alleged.

However, the seven accused have vehemently denied the allegations.

“My wife and I are involved in running a church, and we have not accepted any amount from anyone. Nor have we lured anyone into Christianity,” Compass Direct quoted Pastor Paul as saying.

Incidentally, Pastor Paul and his wife were asked to vacate their rented house after two national dailies, the Amar Ujala and the Dainik Jagran, carried stories about the allegations against them.

“This is simply an expression of frustration by our ex–employees,” squadron leader (retd.) Philip explained. “We provide Biblical teachings and focus on the personal transformation of a trainee, but some come in with false expectations. They think they will get a job and money, and when such expectations are not met, they think they have been wronged.”

“These employees were laid off because we could not see any transformation in their lives,” he said. “But I suspect that some Hindu fundamentalist organization is using the situation to harass us.”

The trouble started when the Hindu complainants submitted affidavits to the Judicial Magistrate of Hapur Taluka in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh on January 31, 2005. Based on the affidavits, the court ordered local police to investigate the AVT mission under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The police, in turn, registered a complaint against the accused for criminal breach of trust, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

“The AVT and the ECOG is a gang which is involved in an illegal work of luring poor and unemployed people like us into Christianity by promising good, permanent jobs,” the affidavits stated. “All the [accused] are Indians, but in reality, they are agents of foreign countries, and are openly working towards making India a slave to foreigners.”

The affidavits further claimed that AVT had demanded a refundable security deposit of Rs. 20,000 from each of the complainants, in return for arranging permanent jobs with a salary of Rs. 10,000 per month.

“I borrowed the amount and gave it to them on April 5, 2002, in the office of the ECOG. There were several witnesses with me,” said Ramesh Chandra, one of the complainants.

“On August 12, 2002, I, along with 14 others, was sent to the city of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, and we were trained in Christianity until September 2. We were told that we would be given jobs in factories belonging to Christians, and therefore we needed the Christian training,” he alleged.

According to Chandra, when he and others came back from the training, they were given manual work at a paltry wage of Rs. 2,000 per month.

“They also asked us to be baptized, saying we would not get jobs otherwise,” he said.

“I and others were laid off by the AVT on November 28, 2004. But our security deposit was not returned to us. And when we went to the AVT office on January 24, 2005, to ask for the money, the accused and their goons beat us and threatened us with false accusation and death,” he added.

However, when contacted, Pastor Paul countered that the village chief and other villagers had signed a statement saying that the complainants never came to the village to demand money and that no beatings had taken place. He also claimed that AVT had, at no point of time, asked for security deposits from participants in the program.

The date for the hearing of the matter is yet to be fixed.

If found guilty by the court, the seven accused could face imprisonment of up to seven years, or fine or both.