Punjabi Christians float new party amid ‘conversion’ outcry

Amid a row over religious conversions and the growing influence of Pentecostal churches in rural Punjab, a new political outfit of Punjabi Christians was floated on Monday, announcing that it would put up a candidate for next month’s Lok Sabha by-election in the reserved Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

The emergence of the United Punjab Party comes just days after a Pentecostal Christian Parbandhak Committee was formed by some community members on the pattern of the SGPC.

An announcement in this regard was made at the Open Door Church of Pastor Harpreet Deol in Khojewala village near Jalandhar. Interestingly, Pastor Deol had come under the scanner of the income tax department, which had conducted raids recently on him and other Pentecostal churches at several places in Punjab in connection with alleged unaccounted foreign funding, illegal transfer of money and tax evasion.

Deol runs The Open Door Church in Kapurthala. Various Sikh groups have been complaining against the growing influence of the Pentecostal churches, alleging that they were luring Dalits to convert to Christianity

Analysts say since the Church has a decent following among the Dalit community of Jalandhar, the idea behind floating a new party at this juncture is being seen as an attempt to tap into this vote bank for the May 10 bypoll. This is for the first time that a political outfit has been formed with the active support of the Pentecostal churches whose influence has been growing in the rural areas of the state.

Though Pastor Harpreet Deol remained present at the meeting, he denied his role in political activities and said he would confine himself only to religious matters.

“I support this party as it will give us a platform where we will be able to rake up issues concerning Christians such as the need to have more graveyards or even community centres,” said Deol in a video message.

Ludhiana-based Albert Dua was appointed the president of the outfit by various Christians who attended the meeting. Interestingly, he had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2022 assembly polls. He has also served as a member of the Punjab State Minority Commission.

The proliferation of churches has of late become a major point of tension in Punjab’s rural areas with Sikh groups alleging inducements for conversion, a charge denied by the Church. Some of these Pentecostal churches had come under the scanner of the IT department as well.