ICC Note: Local Christians in eastern India believe Hindu extremists have intentionally falsely charged a local pastor with leading a tribal rebel movement. Christian pastors are often harassed by Hindu extremists in India. Physical assaults, false criminal complaints, and threats of violence are often used to stop Christian pastors from continuing their ministries among non-Christian communities.

08/30/2018 India (Morning Star News) – A pastor could face life in prison after police in eastern India falsely charged him with leading a tribal rebel movement, sources said.

Christian leaders in Khunti District, Jharkhand state suspect Hindu extremists are behind the sudden, baseless accusations against pastor Jidan Herenz in March, when he was charged with sedition for allegedly leading the rebellious pathalgadi, a movement by tribal Adivasis to fight for indigenous rights.

After police in Murhu village, Khunti District booked him under 13 sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), accusing him of convening unlawful assemblies, altering the appearance of Indian currency (coin), criminal conspiracy and sedition, Pastor Herenz and his family fled deep into to district forests. He has since planted a church among remote tribal people there.

“It worries me, it is difficult to gather as a church, and several false cases have been booked against me,” Pastor Herenz, 55, wrote to Morning Star News last month. “There is severe opposition, threats, but the ministry must continue.”

Section 124(a) of the IPC prescribes life imprisonment for sedition. On Aug. 8, the Ranchi High Court granted anticipatory bail to the pastor.

“It’s a miracle that I have been granted bail by the High Court,” Pastor Herenz told Morning Star News. “Everybody I met after moving back to Khunti told me the allegations are very serious, and they never thought that I can be free.”

Area pastor Zacharias Purthi said he was with Pastor Herenz when the charges were filed, and that the police action was clearly a plot by Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members to frame him and stop the spread of Christianity.

An area Christian who spoke on condition of anonymity said members of the Hindu extremist RSS have long tried to trap pastors in false cases.

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For interviews with William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected].