India (MNN) — New legislation in India’s Punjab State has Christians concerned that persecution against them will increase. 

Punjab’s population is majority Sikh, a monotheistic religion that reveres its holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. A recent amendment to Punjab’s sacrilege law has increased the consequences for anyone accused of desecrating their holy book. 

Joe Handley serves pivotal leaders, empowering them to catalyze Christ-centered movements around the world.   He explains that the new legislation was sparked by someone tearing up a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib. The amendment increases possible prison time for offenders and also gives immunity to police in the process, among other changes. For Christians who already faced challenges under the previous, milder regulations, this is bad news. 

“Punjab is one of the states where the Sikh community and the Christian community have actually had a pretty harmonious relationship generally. So this is alarming,” says Handley.

Sikh men at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India (Stock photo courtesy of Sarbjit Singh via Unsplash)

Sacrilege laws are distinct from the anti-conversion laws spreading across Indian states. Punjab does not have an anti-conversion law on the books. However, the effects of its new anti-sacrilege legislation look very similar.

Punjab’s new law focuses on how the Sikh scriptures are treated. But it could be the start of an even more slippery slope. 

“In this case, they found the Sikh sacred text ripped up and left on the ground: that’s one form of [breaking the sacrilege law]. But others are worried, ‘could it be other forms of communication?’” says Handley. “The fear is you could just use something somebody says. [It] may not even be meant to be a disparaging comment. It could be just saying, ‘I disagree with that religion.’”

The change of law in Punjab is only one part of the broader picture of religious freedom in India. But with those concerns comes another long-term perspective. 

“The Church of Christ has lasted for centuries in these pressurized environments, but we may have to adapt in massive ways for the future of the gospel,” Handley says. “Thank God that the gospel is never at risk. Our lives may be at risk, we may be pressured in our faith, but the gospel will stand in the midst of it.”

Pray for religious freedom to be championed in Punjab. If God allows challenges to grow there, pray for resilience and faithfulness for believers as they consider how to respond.

“For instance, one of the people I know, his church was under enormous pressure. They had to completely adapt and move to a ‘house church’ model of church,” says Handley. “That doesn’t mean they’re meeting in a home — that’s just a term that could mean a different form of church, not meeting in a church building or a rented facility.”

 

Header photo: An Indian woman holds her Bible (Photo, caption, courtesy of IMB)