Mob, police disrupt Christian family gathering alleging conversion in Jamshedpur
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The incident of over 100 people, along with police officials, barging into a Christian family’s gathering at a Jamshedpur housing society on suspicion of religious conversion highlights the growing threat of public intervention into the personal worship gatherings of minority communities.
A recent report by The Indian Express highlighted a case in Jamshedpur where a group of over 100 individuals, including police, barged into a Christian family's dinner gathering on the night of July 26, alleging religious conversion without substantiated evidence.
The incident occurred in a housing society under the Golmuri police station limits, where members of the Christian community had assembled to conclude a 21-day fasting prayer with a dinner. The gathering involved approximately 50 people, many of whom were reportedly relatives and acquaintances visiting from states such as Odisha and West Bengal, who had been staying in two flats for the duration of the fast.
Some residents raised concerns about the presence of a large number of people, suspecting unauthorised religious activities, which led to a verbal complaint and subsequent police intervention.
Despite no written complaint being filed, the police, along with a sizeable group of civilians, entered the premises, questioned the attendees, and took six individuals to the police station for further inquiry. The police claimed the step was taken for the safety of those individuals and not due to any charges.
However, church members alleged that they were harassed, confined, and even physically assaulted at the police station. While the Golmuri Station House Officer denied knowledge of any violence, he admitted that he briefly left the scene during the station visit.
The Deputy Commissioner of Jamshedpur stated that the police had submitted a report on the Golmuri incident, along with another similar occurrence in Bhuyadi, and preliminary findings did not support claims of forced conversion. It was clarified that the participants in the gathering were predominantly Christians, and only two or three non-Christian individuals present had joined voluntarily.
A complaint has since been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner by a minority rights organisation, which alleged that Christians are increasingly being targeted under false accusations of conversion. The activist group claimed that the incident was part of a broader trend, possibly linked to recent political developments, such as the renaming of a state health scheme after Mother Teresa.
