SRINAGAR: Jammu Kashmir Police have registered a case against a group of Christian missionaries in Kathua district for allegedly promoting religious conversions and hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community. The FIR, numbered 198/2025, has been lodged under sections 299 (deliberate or malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation or coercion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita .
According to Daily Excelsior , the case was filed following protests in Kathua town after agitators alleged that the missionaries had disrespected Hindu religious figures and literature while attempting to convert people by offering promises of health, prosperity, and employment. Demonstrations were led jointly by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, who accused the missionaries of “targeting poor and gullible members of the Hindu community.”
VHP Sangathan Mantri Mohinder Pal, leading a protest at Shaheedi Chowk, was quoted by Excelsior as saying that the missionaries were “deliberately targeting the poor and innocent people from the Hindu community” for conversion. “This won’t be tolerated forthwith,” he warned, urging the administration to act against those disturbing communal harmony in the district. Similar protests were reported earlier in Juthana and Nagri areas of Kathua, where the missionaries, allegedly from Kerala, were accused of offering inducements for conversion.
The Indian Express reported that the FIR was registered three days after a separate incident in which a group of Christian missionaries was attacked by residents of Juthana village. Following that assault, police lodged another case against the attackers and suspended eight policemen, including a sub-inspector, after a video surfaced showing them standing by as a mob vandalised the missionaries’ van.
Police sources told The Indian Express that it was not yet clear whether the group named in the latest FIR was the same as the one attacked earlier. Kathua SSP Mohita Sharma has ordered a detailed investigation into both matters and assured strict action. No arrests have been made so far.
