Charges church proselytized in post-tsunami India ruled 'baseless'

Published: 2005-06-02

QUILON, India (CNS) -- A government probe dismissed allegations that Catholic groups converted Hindus during tsunami reconstruction in Kerala state in southern India. B. Srinivas, the top government official in Quilon, where the conversions allegedly took place, dismissed the claims as "baseless and fabricated," reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Srinivas said he had the police investigate "each case and found that the allegations were false and misleading." Earlier, the United Front of Hindus accused Christian groups of using relief programs to convert Hindus in the Alappad section of Quilon. Church groups denied the allegations, but the Hindu groups kept up pressure, organizing protests in various parts of Kerala. The Hindu protests forced Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency, to withdraw from Kerala.

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