Pastor Prakash Singh (46) was falsely accused of assault in May and had his church building and home set on fire on 14 June. He says he had been threatened on several previous occasions by the Sikh neighbour who is suspected of starting the fire.
The pastor’s wife Paramjit Kaur is seeking the arrest of the neighbour and is also seeking to clear her husband and their son Anand Singh (18) of false criminal allegations.
Pastor Singh is pictured (left) with his supporters Pastor Puran Shafri, chair of the All India Christian Samaaj Bhalai Dal (Amritsar), an organisation that works for the welfare and rights of Christians in Punjab, and Jatinder Masih Gaurav, chair of the Punjab State Minority Commission.
Pastor Singh and his family had to flee their home in Nawa Pind village, Amritsar district in northwest India’s Punjab state in May after the suspected arsonist falsely named him in an assault complaint related to an altercation involving other church members. He and his family have not been able to move back home since then.
Pastor Singh says his Sikh neighbour Jaspal Singh, known by the alias Kalu, had repeatedly made derogatory remarks about the Christians’ faith, telling them several times to leave the village “or we will not let you live here peacefully”.
On 18 May an altercation broke out between Kalu and a church member identified only as Rahul, who with his friends retaliated after Kalu allegedly beat him the day before. Kalu filed a complaint of assault at the police station against nine people including Pastor Singh and his son Anand. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on 28 May.
Pastor Singh said that at the time of the altercation he was at the construction site where he works as a daily wage labourer and had witnesses to prove it. He asked Kalu’s brother why he and his son had been named in the FIR and the brother acknowledged that they had not been involved, but threatened to assault the pastor and his family if they returned home.
“Using the personal altercation as a pretext, Kalu intentionally named Pastor Prakash and his son because of their Christian faith,” Pastor Puran Shafri told Morning Star News. “We have a voice recording of Kalu’s brother acknowledging the pastor and his son’s innocence.”
Pastor Shafri noted that Kalu has previously had several criminal cases registered against him, including alleged drug trafficking and violations of the Arms Act.
Church building and pastor’s home torched
On 14 June the church building and the pastor’s adjoining home were set on fire while the family was away. Neighbours informed them and worked with fire fighters to extinguish the blaze, but when Paramjit went home next day she found that the fire had destroyed furniture, appliances, important personal documents, musical instruments, 16 Bibles and other Christian materials. Cash equivalent to €124 had been stolen.
Paramjit said that when she passed Kalu’s house he threw a brick that narrowly missed her. She fled to the police station and filed a FIR complaint against him. Police registered a case of “Mischief by injury, inundation, fire, or explosive substance”, but Pastor Singh said the FIR does not mention the burning of Bibles or what he believes was the religious motive behind the arson. Christian leaders have called on investigators to add charges relating to the deliberate desecration of religious texts.
Pastor Singh established the church in 2022 and 35 to 40 members regularly attend Sunday services. He and Paramjit lived on the premises with their teenage son and an adult daughter and were in the process of building a home on the first floor of the church hall.
Two petitions submitted to Punjab State Minority Commission
On 28 June Pastor Singh, Paramjit, Pastor Shafri and other Christian leaders met Jatinder Masih Gaurav to submit two petitions. Paramjit stated, “We have strong reason to believe, and are fully confident, that Jaspal Singh alias Kalu is the sole perpetrator of this act of arson, committed purely out of hatred towards the Christian religion.”
In the first petition, Paramjit requested the immediate arrest and prosecution of the accused, protection for the family, and that additional charges be registered against him including for the deliberate destruction of religious scriptures.
In the second petition the family called for the removal of Pastor Singh’s and Anand Singh’s names from the earlier FIR.
On 1 July the Christians and their supporters met Punjab’s Director General of Police Harmandeep Singh Gill and submitted applications requesting action on the alleged false FIR and the arson attack. “The DGP assured us that the perpetrator will be arrested and a proper investigation will be conducted for the quashing of Pastor Prakash and Anand’s names,” Pastor Shafri told Morning Star News.
The Punjab State Minority Commission summoned senior police officials to appear in Chandigarh on 6 July in connection with the matter.
(Morning Star News)
Photo: Morning Star News