United Christian Front

What it is: The United Christian Front is a Punjab-based group of Christian churches. ThePrint, on 2 December 2021, described it as having committees in 8,000 of Punjab's 12,000 villages and named Kamal Bakshi as its state president; Organiser spells his first name Kanwal. Neither report says when the Front was formed or who its other leaders are.

Its claims: Bakshi told ThePrint there were 600 to 700 churches in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, belonging to four denominations, and that 60 to 70 per cent of them had appeared in the past five years. He said at least 23 per cent of Gurdaspur is Christian. The 2011 census figures ThePrint quotes are 7.68 per cent for Gurdaspur and just over 2 per cent for Amritsar, and the paper presented his figures as claims it had not verified. Organiser reported on 20 January 2022 that he put Punjab's Christian voters at about 900,000, and that the 2011 census counted 348,230 Christians in the state. Organiser also cited unspecified estimates that Christians could reach 10 per cent of the population.

The Panth's response: The SGPC launched Ghar Ghar Andar Dharamsaal on 7 September 2021, sending 100 teams of seven preachers into villages of Majha, Malwa and Doaba. Giani Harpreet Singh, then officiating Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, alleged that missionaries were luring the poor into forced conversion. Dr Kashmir Singh of the Dalit and Minority Organisation disputed that conversions were forced, said Dalit Sikhs have had too little representation in Sikh bodies, and described caste boycotts in village gurdwaras (The Tribune). Converts and church figures quoted by ThePrint gave community, equality and cheap church schooling as reasons, and rejected the claim that converts are paid.

Key moments

• 7 September 2021: the SGPC begins its village drive.
• 2 December 2021: ThePrint reports Bakshi's figures.
• 20 January 2022: Organiser repeats them.
• 7 September 2022: Giani Harpreet Singh meets representatives of the Catholic Church of India, the Church of North India and seven other churches, who deny any link with "fake pastors". The Quint's report does not mention the Front.

Where it stands: The newest report found that names the Front is from January 2022. Its numbers remain its own, and the dispute over how many Punjabis are Christian is open.