Authorities imposed a complete ban on Christian religious mass gatherings for a third consecutive Sunday.
Dozens of churches in the nation were not allowed to worship at the behest of Hindu nationalist groups, as per a report.
The Sub-Divisional Officer issued a circular to police stations in the Thandla and Megnagar blocks in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh due to which as many as 50 house churches were not allowed to gather for worship.
A local pastor was quoted saying that he read the circular last Friday and decided not to have worship on Sunday.
More than 300 pastors and Christain leaders have tried to defuse the situation by meeting with the authorities, however, little has changed.
Madhya Pradesh is one of the several Indian states that have “anti-conversion” laws, which presume that Christians “force” or give financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity.
Inputs from christianpost.com