Indian State Criminalises Praying for the Sick
Authorities describe healing as an “evil” that needs to be prevented.
A ban on “magical healing” is the latest attempt by Indian authorities to crack down on Christian evangelism.
The Hindu-dominated state of Assam, 2000 km east of Delhi, is proposing to jail Christians who offer prayer — or any other “unscientific practices” — for people who are unwell.
You have to love a group of people who worship cows talking about cracking down on unscientific practices. But I digress.
The real upset for authorities in India is that sick people frequently get better after receiving prayer. And then they become Christians. And they don’t want that.
The government would rather their people be sickly than Christian. Beelzebub says hello.
Chilling Effect
The state’s ban on prayer says:
“No person shall take any part in healing practices and magical healing propagation for treatment of any diseases, any disorder or any condition relating to the health of a person (relating to human body) directly or indirectly giving a false impression of treatment to cure diseases, pain or trouble to the human health.”
This, from a government that promoted the jab as a way of stopping Covid. Follow the science, baby!
Of course, none of this has anything to do with protecting sick people from false hope. Rather, it is all about shielding the Hindu population from Christian evangelism.
Pray for the sick, and you face a three-year prison term.
Get caught doing it twice, and the jail time becomes five years.
If Christian prayers didn’t work, I don’t suppose any of this would be necessary. So, the ban is actually a nod to the power of Jesus.
But wait. Assam authorities say the bill doesn’t target any particular religion. Also, pigs fly.
Policing the Divine Physician
Assam’s chief persecutor, er, minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, told journalists:
“We want to curb evangelism in Assam, so in that direction, the banning of healing… will be a very, very important milestone.”
Wait. Did he say they were banning “healing”?
He went on to say:
“Healing is a very, very dicey subject, which is used to convert tribal people.”
I’m not so sure the leper whose skin is suddenly smooth regards healing as a dicey subject.
I’m betting the blind man who sees, and the deaf man who hears, aren’t in the least bit concerned about the ethics of being made well.
But Sarma kept on:
“We are going to pilot [this bill], because we believe that religious status quo is very important. Whoever is Muslim, let them be Muslims; whoever is Christian, let them be Christians; whoever is Hindu, let them be Hindus, so there can be a proper balance in our state.”
Maybe Hindus could heal sick people, and then they wouldn’t have to worry about losing people.
If only Krishna weren’t a total fraud, damn it.
The Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill (2024) criminalises any “non-scientific healing practices with ulterior motives for exploiting the innocent people.”
What kind of government describes healing as an evil that needs to be prevented?
The state of Assam is governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the national ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Anthony Albanese’s good mate Modi will need to sign off on the law for it to come into effect.
I’ll let you know what happens.
___
Originally published at The James Macpherson Report.
Subscribe to his Substack here for daily witty commentary.
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Praying for India and those who minister in India and healing the sick with the power of prayer.
Some of our recent migrants from India share hatred of Christians which worries me. I recently was driven by a black , Coptic taxi-driver from Ethopia who is ignorant about our Constitution and Australian Values , but, who was fascinated by my tales of the Australia of my childhood and wants to learn more about Australia from me .In my opinion, he will make a good Australian. He proudly showed me a magnificent silver chain and crucifix with Jesus which hangs around his neck. It was made for him by my friend , Chris, a silversmith in Hobart .I never knew Chris was so talented –a true artist in silver, even though he is not religious . In parting, the taxi-driver gave me a gift I treasure—a Coptic Cross .