GWAILIOR (UCAN): Police and senior officials in India’s Madhya Pradesh state raided a Catholic seminary and questioned its students on November 5 following allegations of religious conversion, amid reports of growing anti-Christian sentiment in the region.
“Police arrived unannounced and demanded to conduct a search on an accusation we were involved in religious conversions,” said Father Harshal Ammaparambil, rector of St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary, which comes under the Diocese of Gwalior.
The seminary, established 25 years ago to train Catholic students for the priesthood, was searched for nearly five hours, Father Ammaparambil explained on November 6.
Officers “searched every nook and cranny” and interrogated all 23 seminarians, who come from Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh states, he said.
Crime Branch officials, senior police officers, and sub-divisional magistrate also took part in the raid.
“The police and other officials left after we produced documents, including parental consent letters, baptismal certificates, parish recommendations, and property papers,” Father Ammaparambil said.
“We have nothing to hide. We admit only Catholics and are ready to face any investigation,” he said.
The police action followed a report in the Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar, on November 5, accusing the seminary of admitting boys from poor indigenous families, providing them education, better living conditions, and converting them to Catholicism to become priests.
Father Ammaparambil dismissed the newspaper report as “totally false” and said the seminary is consulting legal experts about possible action against the newspaper for “publishing baseless news.”
Father Pratap Toppo, the diocesan public relations officer, called the report “misleading and maligning,” saying the publication had failed to verify facts.
A government official said, “A probe is on. Let us wait for it to conclude,” he said, declining to comment further.
The district’s highest government official, the collector, has since formed a three-member committee to investigate the allegations and report by November 10.
Madhya Pradesh is among 12 Indian states enforcing anti-conversion laws that criminalise religious conversion without prior approval from designated authorities.
“The seriousness shown in the raid shows how the government machinery tried hard to find fault with us based on a baseless media report,” said Daniel John, a Catholic leader based in Bhopal.
“The same vigour is not seen when our people are attacked,” he said.
Christian leaders like him allege increasing hostility from right-wing Hindu groups aligned with the ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party.
Several Christian institutions, including schools and orphanages, have been raided in recent years following similar allegations.
Christians comprise about 0.27 per cent of Madhya Pradesh’s 72 million population, while Hindus, including many indigenous communities, make up around 80 percent.
