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Punjab: Christian Missionaries organise ‘satsang’ in Zirakpur, face strong protest from locals during their attempted forced religious conversion program

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Sajjan_Thug

Sajjan_Thug

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On May 21, Hindu organizations and locals protested against Christian Missionaries who had organized a two-day program outside a community hall in Green City, Dhakoli (Zirakpur), district Mohali, Punjab. They alleged that the missionaries were luring people of the locality to convert to Christianity, and the people sitting there were brought from outside. During the protest, the women from the Missionary group pushed BJP leader Neetu Khurana who was protesting along with the locals against the use of a car with ‘Police’ tag by the missionaries. Khurana is General Secretary, Punjab Mahila Morcha.

The dubious missionary event
The two-day event started in the locality on May 21 at around 5 PM. The members of the Church group gathered outside the community hall and made announcements on the loudspeaker inviting people from Green City, Mamata Enclave, and Laxmi Enclave (three localities in the area) to come and ‘experience the wonders of Jesus Christ’.

Though no one from the locality came to hear them, the church group continued praising Christianity for a few hours. During the program, Shlok Aggarwal, a resident of the locality, approached the group and urged them to shut down the program as it was causing unnecessary disturbance. He asked them to lower the volume, but they did not pay attention to his request. Along with Shlok, other locals also objected to the program.

During the program, the speakers of the Church group made dubious claims. They promised that if the person joined them, he or she would be free of all the financial and health problems. The speaker said, “Jesus Christ will bless you and take away all your problems. If any one of you has any financial or health problems, come and take blessings of Jesus Christ.”

Outsiders brought inside the locality for the program


The first objection that was raised was that there were no locals sitting there listening to the speakers of the Church group. The locals alleged that not a single person sitting there was from the locality and everyone was brought in from outside. “It is a threat to the security of our locality. If something happens because of their presence, who will be responsible?” asked Mahendra Kumar, State Planning Head of Dharam Jagran Samanvay.

Speaking to OpIndia, Shlok Aggarwal, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s Social Media Convener, said, “There is no local resident attending their meeting. I am amazed how they got permission to hold such a program here. They are luring the people in this locality to convert. It is happening all across Punjab. We cannot allow this to happen.” He further said, “I came here with three other people. When they saw our tilak, they threatened us and asked us to leave. We were not expecting the Police would come for their protection. Instead of stopping them from attempting conversions, the Police are stopping us. Are we not allowed to stand in our own locality while the outsiders are attempting to convert Hindus without any fear?”

Luring people to convert in exchange for perks is wrong’

RSS Karyakarta Rahul N Sharma said, “These people indulge in conversions in exchange for perks. Luring people to convert in exchange for perks is wrong in any religion. If I go and tell people that I will pay them Rs 1,000 to join Shakha, there will be so much halla bol against it. However, here no one is ready to acknowledge this problem. It is different when people convert over faith to other religions. Still, if someone is getting converted to Christianity or Islam in exchange for money or a promise of a ‘better future’ it is wrong and unethical.”

“The administration is stopping us from raising our voice instead of stopping these people who are trying to convert our Hindu and Sikh brothers and sisters. I want to ask when is this going to stop? We want an answer”, Shlok said.

Try to organize it in Panchkula if you have guts’


A local resident was miffed with the Church group’s attempt to allegedly convert the residents to Christianity. He said, “If you have guts, try to organize such a program in Panchkula (Haryana). Cross the border and organize such a conversion program there. This has become a major problem in Punjab, and the authorities are doing nothing.”

Another local resident pointed out that such conversion programs were going on without any hurdles because Hindus were not raising their voice. He said, “Now when Hindus have raised voices against the conversions, they are getting agitated. Now they have called the Police to stop us. We will not stop. This is not acceptable, and we are not going to let them try to convert our brothers and sisters.”

Car with ‘Police’ tag used by Church group


When the program ended, a car came to pick up the Church group members. To the shock of the locals, the car, which had a Chandigarh registration number, had the ‘Police’ tag on the windshield. They came in front of the car and questioned how a vehicle with a Police tag was being used for conversion programs. The Police tried to remove them from the spot, but they did not budge.

Questions were raised over permission for a religious program to non-locals


The local residents who reside in Mamata Enclave, Laxmi Enclave, and Green City raised objections over the permission granted to the Church group for an event without the involvement of the locals. The committees of all three localities denied information of any permission given to the group to use the Community Hall for the event. Generally, the committee gives permission for such events, but the group had approached SDM for the same.

Notably, the permission documents shared with OpIndia by the locals did not mention the Christian program or ‘Changai Sabha’. The application given by the Church group read, “We are organizing a Satsang at Lakshmi Enclave, Community Center, Dhakoli, Zirakpur. We request you to allow us to use loudspeakers for the same.”

The address mentioned on the permission letter was of a man identified as Robin resident of Shanti Enclave, which is located outside the gated society. People living around the community hall said they do not know anyone named Robin, and no one came to ask them for permission or even informed them about the event.

‘We want forced conversions to stop’


Speaking to OpIndia, Mahender Kumar said, “These people lure poor Hindus in the name of better education, money and food to convert to Christianity. It is the responsibility of the state, society and Hindu organizations to not let such conversions happen. It is unfortunate that the government and society have failed to stop these conversions. Hindu organizations are working extensively to put a stop to the practice of conversions by luring the poor over fake promises of a ‘better life.”

Forced religious conversions in Punjab


Punjab is one of the hotspots of forced religious conversions in the country. Many pastors and churches have mushroomed in the state over the past few years. These groups are luring people to convert by promising them a ‘better life’ and relief from ailments. Alleged prophet Bajinder is one of the finest examples of such self-proclaimed God-men working in the state.

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GurjantGnostic

GurjantGnostic

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On 5/26/2022 at 12:42 PM, Sajjan_Thug said:

Full article with pictures and videos in link

On May 21, Hindu organizations and locals protested against Christian Missionaries who had organized a two-day program outside a community hall in Green City, Dhakoli (Zirakpur), district Mohali, Punjab. They alleged that the missionaries were luring people of the locality to convert to Christianity, and the people sitting there were brought from outside. During the protest, the women from the Missionary group pushed BJP leader Neetu Khurana who was protesting along with the locals against the use of a car with ‘Police’ tag by the missionaries. Khurana is General Secretary, Punjab Mahila Morcha.

The dubious missionary event
The two-day event started in the locality on May 21 at around 5 PM. The members of the Church group gathered outside the community hall and made announcements on the loudspeaker inviting people from Green City, Mamata Enclave, and Laxmi Enclave (three localities in the area) to come and ‘experience the wonders of Jesus Christ’.

Though no one from the locality came to hear them, the church group continued praising Christianity for a few hours. During the program, Shlok Aggarwal, a resident of the locality, approached the group and urged them to shut down the program as it was causing unnecessary disturbance. He asked them to lower the volume, but they did not pay attention to his request. Along with Shlok, other locals also objected to the program.

During the program, the speakers of the Church group made dubious claims. They promised that if the person joined them, he or she would be free of all the financial and health problems. The speaker said, “Jesus Christ will bless you and take away all your problems. If any one of you has any financial or health problems, come and take blessings of Jesus Christ.”

Outsiders brought inside the locality for the program


The first objection that was raised was that there were no locals sitting there listening to the speakers of the Church group. The locals alleged that not a single person sitting there was from the locality and everyone was brought in from outside. “It is a threat to the security of our locality. If something happens because of their presence, who will be responsible?” asked Mahendra Kumar, State Planning Head of Dharam Jagran Samanvay.

Speaking to OpIndia, Shlok Aggarwal, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s Social Media Convener, said, “There is no local resident attending their meeting. I am amazed how they got permission to hold such a program here. They are luring the people in this locality to convert. It is happening all across Punjab. We cannot allow this to happen.” He further said, “I came here with three other people. When they saw our tilak, they threatened us and asked us to leave. We were not expecting the Police would come for their protection. Instead of stopping them from attempting conversions, the Police are stopping us. Are we not allowed to stand in our own locality while the outsiders are attempting to convert Hindus without any fear?”

Luring people to convert in exchange for perks is wrong’

RSS Karyakarta Rahul N Sharma said, “These people indulge in conversions in exchange for perks. Luring people to convert in exchange for perks is wrong in any religion. If I go and tell people that I will pay them Rs 1,000 to join Shakha, there will be so much halla bol against it. However, here no one is ready to acknowledge this problem. It is different when people convert over faith to other religions. Still, if someone is getting converted to Christianity or Islam in exchange for money or a promise of a ‘better future’ it is wrong and unethical.”

“The administration is stopping us from raising our voice instead of stopping these people who are trying to convert our Hindu and Sikh brothers and sisters. I want to ask when is this going to stop? We want an answer”, Shlok said.

Try to organize it in Panchkula if you have guts’


A local resident was miffed with the Church group’s attempt to allegedly convert the residents to Christianity. He said, “If you have guts, try to organize such a program in Panchkula (Haryana). Cross the border and organize such a conversion program there. This has become a major problem in Punjab, and the authorities are doing nothing.”

Another local resident pointed out that such conversion programs were going on without any hurdles because Hindus were not raising their voice. He said, “Now when Hindus have raised voices against the conversions, they are getting agitated. Now they have called the Police to stop us. We will not stop. This is not acceptable, and we are not going to let them try to convert our brothers and sisters.”

Car with ‘Police’ tag used by Church group


When the program ended, a car came to pick up the Church group members. To the shock of the locals, the car, which had a Chandigarh registration number, had the ‘Police’ tag on the windshield. They came in front of the car and questioned how a vehicle with a Police tag was being used for conversion programs. The Police tried to remove them from the spot, but they did not budge.

Questions were raised over permission for a religious program to non-locals


The local residents who reside in Mamata Enclave, Laxmi Enclave, and Green City raised objections over the permission granted to the Church group for an event without the involvement of the locals. The committees of all three localities denied information of any permission given to the group to use the Community Hall for the event. Generally, the committee gives permission for such events, but the group had approached SDM for the same.

Notably, the permission documents shared with OpIndia by the locals did not mention the Christian program or ‘Changai Sabha’. The application given by the Church group read, “We are organizing a Satsang at Lakshmi Enclave, Community Center, Dhakoli, Zirakpur. We request you to allow us to use loudspeakers for the same.”

The address mentioned on the permission letter was of a man identified as Robin resident of Shanti Enclave, which is located outside the gated society. People living around the community hall said they do not know anyone named Robin, and no one came to ask them for permission or even informed them about the event.

‘We want forced conversions to stop’


Speaking to OpIndia, Mahender Kumar said, “These people lure poor Hindus in the name of better education, money and food to convert to Christianity. It is the responsibility of the state, society and Hindu organizations to not let such conversions happen. It is unfortunate that the government and society have failed to stop these conversions. Hindu organizations are working extensively to put a stop to the practice of conversions by luring the poor over fake promises of a ‘better life.”

Forced religious conversions in Punjab


Punjab is one of the hotspots of forced religious conversions in the country. Many pastors and churches have mushroomed in the state over the past few years. These groups are luring people to convert by promising them a ‘better life’ and relief from ailments. Alleged prophet Bajinder is one of the finest examples of such self-proclaimed God-men working in the state.

You'd think hindus...would recognize devte worship when they see it. 

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Soulfinder

Soulfinder

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1 hour ago, Sajjan_Thug said:

Waheguru Ji

How can we make the Sangat aware  and counter what these missionaries are doing of converting us?

Wjkk wjkf veer ji

 

We can do ardas that may someone like Sant Baba Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindrawale or some mahapursh, Gursikhs will come and do parchaar and help remove this problem from punjab

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