Barnabas Aid - International Headquarters River Street, Pewsey, Wilthire. Phone: +44 1672 565030 Latitude: 51 deg 23 min 18 sec N Longitude: 1 deg 45 min 48 sec W .
Probe into alleged deletion of 20,000 Ch...

Email:

Probe into alleged deletion of 20,000 Christians from electoral roll in India

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

Probe into alleged deletion of 20,000 Christians from electoral roll in India

Country/Region: India, South and East Asia

Reports that the names of 20,000 Christians have been deleted from the electoral roll in an Indian state are being investigated amid concerns that the community is being deliberately disenfranchised.

An inter-denominational Christian forum in Madhya Pradesh, Isai Mahasangh, has formed a committee to examine the matter, the extent of which came to light during elections for its own district-level body in Jabalpur.

Mahasangh president, Sujit William, said:

When we checked the voters list many Christians who already got enrolled in the list were shocked to find their names missing from it.

Vidhan_Sabha_4X3.jpg
The Vidhan Sabha is the seat of Madhya Pradesh's Legislative Assembly
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

He said that subsequent enquiries revealed similar irregularities in other places. Initial reports suggest that the names of 20,000 Christians have been deleted from the electoral roll in a number of places, including the state capital, Bhopal.

The Mahasangh has now written to each of its units in the 50 districts of Madhya Pradesh asking them to check if all Christians are on the electoral roll, and to send them a detailed report within 20 days if names are missing. Once they have a complete picture, they will refer the matter to the relevant authorities.

General Secretary, Jerry Paul, said that they think there is a pattern and alleged that it was a conspiracy by the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is notoriously anti-Christian.

The Mahasangh’s concerns are supported by the state’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, which has accused the state government of playing dirty politics to disenfranchise Christians.

Vishwanath Dubey, former mayor and Congress state vice president, has written to his party’s state president, Kantial Bhuria, about the matter and has pledged to help Christians re-register.

Electoral rolls in Madhya Pradesh are being revised and updated ahead of state Assembly elections at the end of 2013.

Chief Electoral officer Jaideep Govind said that if the Mahasangh approaches his office, “we will definitely look into their complaints and make corrections if needed.”

Help us: Share this article

Email:

Probe into alleged deletion of 20,000 Christians from electoral roll in India

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

christian, persecution, charity, church, persecuted, sookhdeo, Islam

Other articles

Follow Barnabas

or

receive news & appeal emails as they are published

From Twitter

From Twitter_icon
  • Four converts to Christianity jailed, two others given suspended sentence, amid Iranian presidential elections http://ow.ly/m6BPh Mon, Jun 2013 17:04

  • #Christian killed in Egypt church attack; Christian businesses destroyed http://bit.ly/190VjKT Thu, Jun 2013 14:49

  • India: Dad/son beaten in prayer meeting.Indones: President gets relig freedom award. Viet: 8 from unreg church jailed http://bit.ly/15OtRO9 Wed, Jun 2013 11:06

  • "Reign of terror" against #Christians, Central African Republic "raising a Bible Wed, Jun 2013 14:07

Daily prayer

Daily prayer_icon
  • In another chilling sign of Egypt’s move towards becoming an Islamic state, it was announced in March that a religious police force had been established to uphold Muslim morals. The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice shares its name with the notorious religious police of Saudi Arabia. For some months previously, vigilante Salafist gangs had been operating as self-appointed enforcers of morals, raiding shops and harassing staff and customers. The Christian community is concerned that it may now be subjected to the demands of sharia law. Pray that this will not happen and that the Islamisation of Egyptian society will be checked and then reversed. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 14 hours ago

  • Christian girls in Egypt are extremely vulnerable to being kidnapped by Salafists who forcibly convert them to Islam and marry them to Muslim men against their will; over 500 have been victims of this heartless campaign since the revolution of January 2011. The Association of Victims of Abduction and Enforced Disappearance (AVAED), an Egyptian Christian organisation, says that the authorities collude with the Salafists. Give thanks for the safe return of Agape Essam Girgis (13), who was abducted from el-Ameriya on 23 December 2012. Sadly, most cases do not have a happy ending. Pray that the Lord will comfort those families whose daughters are still missing and intervene mightily to deliver the Christian girls from the hands of their captors. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Tue, Jun 2013 00:00

  • Pray for our brothers and sisters in North Africa living in the shadow of militant Islamism. Following the French intervention against Islamist groups who had taken over large parts of Mali, militants attacked a gas facility in Algeria in January and killed 37 people. An Algerian employee who managed to escape said, “We were told that because we were Muslim we would not be killed, and it was only the Christians they were after.” The Islamists associate Christianity with the West, so Christian targets and individuals as well as Western ones are especially vulnerable to attack. Ask that the Lord will protect Christians in the region against violence and the oppressive grip of sharia law. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Mon, Jun 2013 00:00

  • “I had just cooked my last meal, and there was no food in the house, nor money, nor any other way of obtaining grain. Thank the Lord for this aid, which has saved me and my children.” Bâh Kamaté, a Christian widow with six children in Mali, was “completely overwhelmed” when her pastor told her that she was going to receive corn and rice funded by Barnabas. Thousands of Christians fled the north of the country after the Islamist takeover in 2012, and their plight was worsened by food shortages resulting from drought. But praise God that Barnabas has helped to supply food for more than 5,100 Christians, as well as meeting other needs. Pray for His continuing provision for His people as Mali continues to face an uncertain future. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sun, Jun 2013 00:00

  • Those who become Christians in Laos risk losing everything. A couple from Chumpoy in the Sanamsai district of Attappeu province were thrown out of their village on 23 January for converting to Christianity. Pray for Sakien and his wife Dong, who came to Christ after hearing the testimony of their son and daughter-in-law, Sanien and Pitsamai; they had become Christians after Pitsamai was healed after prayer. Sakien and Dong are currently sheltering in a partially constructed church building in another village; pray that they will either be able to return to their home or find adequate housing elsewhere, and that the Lord will sustain them in their new faith throughout this trial. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sat, Jun 2013 00:00

© Barnabas Aid 1997 - 2013 All rights reserved.
Barnabas Aid is a registered trade mark