Kerala pastor among 8 held in Maharashtra over religious conversion bid; CM Vijayan slams move
Amravati (PTI): Police in Maharashtra's Amravati district on Wednesday arrested a pastor hailing from Kerala, and seven others including four women, on the charge of hurting religious sentiments after a man accused them of offering money to people for conversion to Christianity, officials said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the arrest of the "Malayali Christian priest, his family and aides" as "deeply disturbing", and criticised the Sangh Parivar for the "worrying pattern of targeting minorities to fuel polarisation".
A complaint over the incident was lodged by Lakshman Shede, a resident of Warud, around 80 km from Amravati, on Tuesday.
As per the complaint, five to six persons came to the house of Ritesh Bondre, a local resident, and erected a pandal in front of his house on December 30.
A person wearing white clothes was preaching about Christianity to people of the village and was luring the attendees with money to change their faith, it said.
Based on his complaint, in-charge of the Benoda police station visited the spot and brought the eight accused to the police station for inquiry.
The eight persons are identified as Bondre, the local resident; Anandkumar Karri, a resident of Nagpur; Sudhir William, a native of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, who has been residing in Nagpur for the last few years; Vikram Sande from Nagpur and four women, the police said.
Police sources said Kerala native William is a pastor.
On Wednesday, the police formally placed the eight accused under arrest and produced them before a local court, which granted them bail.
They were booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) and 302 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person).
Kerala CM Vijayan, in a post on X, said, "Deeply disturbing that a Malayali Christian priest, his family and aides were arrested in Nagpur on allegations of forced conversion. This follows a worrying pattern followed by Sangh Parivar, of targeting minorities to fuel polarisation, as seen earlier in Jabalpur. Such actions undermine constitutional freedoms."
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Experience comes when you play bigger teams in bilateral series: Rashid Khan
Chennai (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan called for more bilateral series against stronger cricketing nations after his team signed off from the T20 World Cup on a high, defeating Canada in their final group match here on Thursday.
Afghanistan played some exhilarating cricket, going down to South Africa in a gripping second Super Over after the scores were tied, a humdinger that provided one of the early thrills of the World Cup.
However, the spin-bowling stalwart said Afghanistan could make significant strides if they get regular opportunities to compete against stronger cricketing nations.
"Couple of areas to improve, with the batting, the middle order got a bit stuck against the big teams, and then with the bowling the death overs. That comes when you play the bigger teams in bilateral series," said Rashid after his team defeat Canada by 82 runs, with him returning excellent figures of 2 for 19.
The stalwart said the side had arrived well prepared for the tournament and produced some breathtaking cricket, but admitted the narrow defeat to South Africa proved costly and remained a painful setback.
"We were well-prepared (for the tournament), we played some unbelievable cricket. The game against South Africa, that really hurt everyone. We had to win one of those (first two) games and see how the tournament unfolded. We'll take some positive things from this World Cup and look forward," he said.
With head coach Jonathan Trott set to part ways with the team, Rashid described the departure as an "emotional" moment for the side.
"I think we had some wonderful times with him. Where we are now, he played a main role. It's emotional to see him leave us, but that's how life is. We wish him all the best and somewhere down the line we see him again."
Ibrahim Zadran, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls, said it was satisfying to finally register a substantial score after two below-par outings.
"I enjoyed it, didn't play better cricket in first two innings, which I expect. Wanted to back my skills, really enjoyed it. Pressure was there, it's there all the time. I want to put myself in pressure situations and enjoy it," said Zadran.
"Wanted to play positive cricket, rotate strike and punish bad ball, create partnerships and this is what I have done."
