Hindu nationalists in India want Christian chaplains to be banned from visiting prisons, claiming they are attempting to convert prisoners.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal groups have complained to the police in the state of Karnataka, in southern India, about the distribution of Bibles to prisoners in Gadag district prison and have demanded the immediate suspension of all Christian chaplains from the state's prisons.
The April 6th statement came after a Hindu chaplain met with a prisoner and saw a Bible in the prison.
According to the complaint, a team of seven Christian evangelists visited Gadag district prison on March 12th to pray with prisoners and distribute copies of the New Testament.
The Hindu activists alleged that the Christian chaplains were attempting to carry out religious conversions and stated that they should not have been allowed to distribute religious texts, although Hindu religious literature is often distributed in prisons.
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore said the complaint smacks of a double standard.
"If Hindu preachers are allowed to meet Hindu prisoners, what is wrong with Christian preachers meeting Christian prisoners. If there is evidence of forced or fraudulent conversions of others, let them take action according to the law, with evidence of conversion at hand," he told Crux.
Karnataka is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also leads India since 2014. The BJP is linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist group.
Hindu nationalists often accuse Christians of using force and surreptitious tactics in the pursuit of conversions, and these "illegal conversions" can be punished with fines and prison sentences.
Christian leaders have noted that, despite the alarmist statements from some Hindu groups, the percentage of Christians is actually declining in the country.
According to government census data, the percentage of the Christian population in India in 2001 was 2.34%, but by 2011 it had fallen to 2.30%. A similar decline was seen in Karnataka, where the percentage dropped from 1.91% to 1.87%.
Read in English on Crux