Christian conversion among Dalits in Punjab's border villages

Who: Dalit families of Punjab's border belt, chiefly Mazhabi Sikhs and Valmiki Hindus, who have joined Pentecostal and other churches; the churches and their body, the United Christian Front; and the SGPC and Sri Akal Takht Sahib, which see the trend as a loss to the Panth.

What: ThePrint reported on 2 December 2021 that conversion was visible in the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur, in villages such as Fatehgarh Churian, Dujowal and Awan. Kamal Bakshi, the Front's state president, said it had committees in 8,000 of Punjab's 12,000 villages and that Amritsar and Gurdaspur had 600 to 700 churches, 60 to 70 per cent of them built in five years. He said 95 per cent of Punjab's Christians are converts, overwhelmingly from Dalit backgrounds, and that at least 23 per cent of Gurdaspur is Christian. The 2011 census gave Gurdaspur 7.68 per cent and Amritsar just over 2 per cent. Converts told ThePrint they came for equality, community and schooling, and denied being paid.

The SGPC launched Ghar Ghar Andar Dharamsaal on 7 September 2021, sending 100 teams of seven preachers into villages of Majha, Malwa and Doaba, each staying a week. Giani Harpreet Singh, then officiating Jathedar, alleged that missionaries were luring the poor into forced conversion. In September 2022 he asked Sikhs to consider an anti-conversion law, then met church leaders, who denied any link with "fake pastors" and promised a circular naming them. Dr Kashmir Singh, president of the Dalit and Minority Organisation, disputed that conversions were forced. He said Mazhabi Sikhs are offered free education and healthcare, have never had adequate representation in Sikh bodies, and face caste boycotts even in gurdwaras.

Where: The rural and border belts of Ajnala, Majitha, Dera Baba Nanak, Fatehgarh Churian, Batala and Gurdaspur, and also Jalandhar and Ludhiana, according to The Tribune.

Why it mattered: Scheduled Castes were 31.9 per cent of Punjab in 2011, the highest share of any state, so a Dalit shift matters to the Panth's numbers and its caste record. The statewide figures are disputed. The writer GPS Mann said in January 2026 that research confirms localised conversions but that claims of dramatic statewide change lack verified evidence and must wait for the census. In 2011 Sikhs were 57.69 per cent of Punjab and Christians 1.26 per cent. His most likely scenario for the next census is about 2 per cent Christians and Sikhs at 55 to 56 per cent, and he calls his high-change case, above 5 per cent Christians, a stress test and not a prediction.