Tajpur’s star studded Christmas event triggers controversy

Aparna Banerji

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Jalandhar, January 1

The visit of several Bollywood celebs and their session at the Tajpur Church of self-styled pastor Prophet Bajinder Singh in the city has triggered a controversy between — the Tajpur Church and the Ankur Narula Ministries Khambra Church — the two most influential churches in the region.

On Christmas this year, Bollywood celebs Gulshan Grover, Mahima Chaudhary, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Rakhi Sawant, Rajpal Yadav, Prem Chopra, Jaya Prada and Upasna Singh visited the Tajpur Church in Jalandhar. On December 20, actor Sunil Shetty attended the pastor’s Chandigarh shobha yatra. The Tajpur event visit entailed a slew of “prophecies” by the pastor for the celebs. This was followed by short entertainment acts by the celebs who spoke their favourite dialogues on stage for the audience.

The event drew fierce criticism from the rival Ankur Narula Ministries with Narula formally condemning the Tajpur event in a video by saying, “Church is not a circus ring.”

Narula’s criticism drew counter charge from Bajinder Singh’s followers. At a press conference held at Punjab Press Club, they claimed that Narula was jealous over the rise of Bajinder’s church.

At the heart of the feud is the growing popularity of both the churches. The congregation is rapidly swelling at both the churches and so is the number of followers.

Baljinder claims that he predicted the Bollywood celebs’ visit back in the year 2018. Baljinder also speaks about himself as a “Bhavishya Vakta”. His Instagram channel features “before” and “after” “prophecies” and videos.

At the Christmas events too, Baljinder made a slew of prophecies for the celebs like Sunil Shetty was promised a ministerial birth.

The prophecies for others include a son for actor Rajpal Yadav; a big channel for Kiku Sharda; a good news for Upasna Singh regarding a bungalow that she is planning to buy; and a big company for Krushna Abhishek among others. These prophecies are often preceded by the claim that the Holy Spirit told Baljinder that.

The Tajpur event witnessed Baljinder making a statement, “I was mad after Mahima Chaudhary since I was in the eighth standard. But now I have quit sins and started following Yeshu Masih.”

The condemnation also came for some dialogues celebs spoke on stage.

In the backlash, Narula said, “Churches are a channel for holiness. The Bible says no bad word should come out of your mouth. But when we see crass things happening in churches, it causes a lot of pain.”

Surjit Thapar, a representative of the International Masih Ekta Committee, while addressing a press conference on Friday in Jalandhar said, “Ankur Narula has always condemned pastors. He repeatedly finds faults with Prophet Baljinder Singh.”

Albert Dua, president, United Punjab Party, said, “Both the churches together draw at least one lakh followers. They have a huge following. Two prominent churches should never have been involved in such a feud. In Christianity, a lot of value is placed in forgiveness. The churches should also exercise the same rather than blowing an issue out of proportion.”

Neck to neck contest

Prophet Bajinder Singh Ministries channel has 3.12 million subscribers on YouTube while Ankur Narula Ministries channel has 2.22 million followers on YouTube. On Instagram, Prophet Baljinder Singh Ministries has 32, 200 followers while Ankur Narula has 183,000 followers.