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MUMBAI, INDIA, September 19, 2003: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists stopped a Christian prayer meeting in Borivali (just north of Mumbai) yesterday morning, according to this report by Mid Day. The prayer group said they were driven out of the hall, which was then locked up. The VHP denied locking the hall, but said they had questioned the prayer group as they suspected the group was planning to convert people to Christianity during the meeting. Police have not arrested anyone, but said complaints have been filed by both VHP and a Protestant group called the Faith Fire Fellowship. Around 150 men and women from Borivali and Bhiwandi were supposed to gather at 10:00 am for a day of prayers at Mangal Murti Hall in Shimpoli, Borivali. One of the participants, Pastor Prakash Boyin representing a prayer group from Bhiwandi, said just before the meeting began, a group of 50 people came to the hall and accused those gathered there of converting people with inducements of money. “They said we paid US$109 to each person to convert to Christianity. Around 100 people had already come for the prayers. They asked them to get out of the hall and locked the hall,” said Boyin. Though the group that locked up the hall did not tell the prayer group that they belonged to the VHP, a senior police officer confirmed it was a VHP group. “Both groups have made complaints. We are investigating,” the officer said. Police said the prayer group did not have permission to use speakers and an orchestra. Surendra Pandey, joint secretary of VHP’s Borivali unit said that before the meeting, the organizers had distributed pamphlets promising miracle cures for various ailments (HPI adds: which would be a violation of India’s law against “quakery”). “The prayers should have been held in a church and not in an area where there are no Christians,” he said.

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