‘Under attack, need elected representatives’: Why Christians in Punjab have launched a political party

It is an attempt to bring Christian communities & traditions in Punjab under a single political entity, party founder says. First challenge will be to contest Jalandhar LS bypoll.

The launch event of United Punjab Party at Open Door Church in Kapurthala | By Special Arrangement

Chandigarh: Amid a row over religious conversions and the growing influence of Pentecostal churches in rural Punjab, a section of the Christian community has launched a political party to contest elections in the state. 

The first challenge before the newly launched United Punjab Party (UPP) will be to successfully contest the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll on 10 May. The party, however, is yet to be registered with the Election Commission of India.

Pastor Harpreet Deol Khojewala, who runs Open Door Church in Kapurthala, launched the party on Monday. Albert Dua, head of the Christian United Federation Punjab, was unanimously declared the state president.

“The party is a more inclusive body. Apart from Pentecostal churches, it will also include representatives of other churches, including the Catholic ones,” Albert Dua told ThePrint Wednesday.

Dua said that district- and block-level committees of the party will be announced soon. “Although the process for the registration of the United Punjab Party had already begun, if not completed by the time of the elections, our candidate will contest independently,” he added. 

Emphasising on the growing challenges faced by the Christians in Punjab, Khojewala said at the launch event that “it was the need of the hour”, and added that “the community did not have any elected representative to take up their issues with the government.”

Khojewala mentioned how in 2011 it was decided by the Punjab government that the Christians will have their own cemetery, but years later, it has not been implemented. 

“What can be more tragic than the fact that when a Christian dies, the family cannot even look for a designated burial place,” he said.

United Punjab Party, as the name suggests, is an attempt to bring various Christian communities and traditions in Punjab under a single political entity, he said.

“We want that the 5-10 lakh followers that we have across Punjab should be able to unitedly put forth their demands before any government which is in power. Though we pray for good for all and togetherness, we have been under attack and there is nobody to represent our stand in such matters. Hence, the formation of a political party,” Khojewala  said, adding that he would play no role in politics and would continue with only his religious activities. 

At Daduana village in Amritsar last year, a group of Nihangs disrupted an event organised by Christian missionaries. A few days after the incident, unidentified miscreants vandalised a church in Thakkarpura village near Patti town in Tarn Taran. 

Pentecostal churches over the years

Apart from the two main Christian branches of Catholicism and Protestantism, the Pentecostal churches or ministries have been mushrooming in Punjab for the past few years. 

These churches are headed by ‘pastors’ and ‘prophets’, who are mostly converts from other religions. The activities of many of these ‘pastors’ are controversial. In their weekly gatherings, they allegedly offer miraculous solutions to serious health problems, engage in exorcism and even claim to put life back into the dead.

In January, the income tax department raided various churches and houses of Khojewala and ‘prophet’ Baljinder Singh. 

In 2021, Khojewala created the Pentecostal Church Prabandhak Committee (PCPC) to bring together various churches in Punjab under a common management committee. “Almost a thousand big or small churches are a part of this committee,” he said Monday.

Albert Dua also told ThePrint that the PCPC is primarily a religious body whose aim is to bring various Pentecostal churches on a common platform. “The role of UPP, however, will be more inclusive,” he said.

But over the years, the Pentecostal churches have increasingly become contentious, especially on issues relating to conversion, which have even led to violence in some instances.

Since last year, the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, has been deploring the growing trend of conversion among the Sikhs to Christianity, for which the Pentecostal movement was held responsible.

In October last year, when self-styled preacher Amritpal Singh began moving around in Punjab, he attacked the Christians by making uncharitable remarks about Jesus. The Christian community had protested against him in Jalandhar, demanding that a case be registered against him for blasphemy. 

(Edited by Richa Mishra)