National News

Fanatic Christian Missionary Daniel Stephen Courney Who Was Deported In 2017 Found To Be In Manipur

August 15, 2023
The Commune

A video of a rabid Christian missionary, Daniel Stephen Courney, streaming live from Manipur, around the first week of August 2023 has surfaced on social media. 

Legal Rights activist handle, Legal Rights Protection Forum, tweeted that they had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the DGP of Assam and Manipur Police about Daniel Stephen Courney (US) involving in proselytization activities in Assam. An earlier complaint by Legal Rights Protection Forum in 2017 ensured that he was deported and blacklisted from India. However, Courney set up a base in Nepal over the years and entered India via Assam and subsequently to Manipur under the pretext of doing social service (distributing blankets and mattresses).

Who Is Daniel Stephen Courney?

Daniel Stephen Courney, originally from New York, USA, has been involved in proselytisation activities for quite some time. 

A Reddit thread reveals that he arrived in India on 27 August 2009 and was hosted by his pastor friend in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He lived with this pastor friend for several months in a remote village and was given the advice that if he wanted to remain in India, he had to marry locally. In this way, he would be able to have dual citizenship in both India and the US. So, his marriage was arranged with the pastor friend’s niece Anusha. This information was obtained in a Reddit thread that was from this website. The blog post has been removed since. 

The Reddit thread also says that during his stint in the US Army as a combat medic, he was allegedly put in the psychiatric ward because of his “preaching” activities.

His Facebook page reveals that he is now a father of 6 children. He is said to have arrived in India on a tourist visa and stayed on for over 10 years during which he involved himself in conversion-related activities in the then Andhra Pradesh state.  

In 2018, he was convicted on two counts of religious and racially motivated public order offences.

In 2021, he was reported to have stalked an abortion doctor in Englewood with a drone. He was apprehended and found operating the drone which had a speaker and camera outside Metropolitan Medical Associates on Engle Street. Courney and fellow pro-life activists have often protested at this location in the past. He also tried to stop people from entering the reproductive health services clinic. Subsequently, he was barred from coming within 25ft of the Englewood clinic.

He is also reported to have been charged along with two other Christians in 2021 for violating the state’s anti-bias intimidation statute, specifically for “shouting homophobic rhetoric directly in front of Allure Salon,” after the trio preached to the salon owner and an employee who are both openly homosexual.

His Facebook page reveals a lot of information about his move from Nepal where he resided during the pandemic and continued his conversion activities as a missionary.

Recent Activities Of Daniel S Courney in India

In the first week of August 2023, his Facebook page reveals that they took a flight to Assam, and allegedly with the help of the West Bengal Joint Secretary, International Human Rights Council, he has been moving around the North-Eastern states. 

On 3 August 2023, he posted on his Facebook account that he along with another person named Mr. M.S Kumar from Hyderabad have distributed 50 Assamese New Testaments on the Platform No. 6 of the Guwahati Railway Station, Assam.

On 5 August 2023, he visited Senapati town of the Manipur State and telecasted a live video criticizing the government of India calling it a ‘Radical Hindu Government’ and accused the Indian Government of the ongoing violence against Christians in the state.

On 10 August 2023, he posted on his Facebook account seeking funds from foreigners for the Manipur violence victims by saying that “At least 400 churches were burned to the ground. Hundreds of Christians kills. Countless families had their homes and entire villages razed to the ground.”

Courney’s Video On Manipur

In his 13-minute video, he speaks about the “persecution of Kuki tribals” because they are Christians and that he was reporting from a village called Senapati in Manipur. 

Full video here – 

He goes on to say that the ruling BJP government is very radically Hindu and was looking to make the entire country “Hindustan”. He claims that about 41 villages have been burned down and churches destroyed. He also claims that the ruling government at the centre felt threatened by the fact that Christianity was metastatizing at an exponential state in the North East and hence these measures were taken. He said, “… they’re attempting to, like I said, to exterminate, to expunge, to curtail the growth of Christianity, the spread of Christianity…”

He also says that he had never seen a more Christian region anywhere in the world and even though the people were converted Christians, they were a force to reckon with. He also mentioned that there are 5 churches in a single village, something he would never see in his country (US).

He then goes on to explain who the Kukis and the Meities are, and how the Kukis remained Christian while the Meiteis were converted to mainstream Hinduism 300 years ago by their king. He claimed that the Kukis lived a very comfortable and prosperous life because they were blessed by God and that the Meities were jealous of their prosperity. – “…I mean they have cars, they have refrigerators, they have washing machines, God has blessed them, God has blessed this region, they’re with wealth and prosperity, don’t you think tribal you think bows and arrows, but these people are living better than some people in in the Appalachian region of America. These people are living well even in the small towns in small villages people are having washing machines and cars, God has blessed the cookie people, and naturally jealousy is growing and the Meitei people are feeling threatened, they’re feeling threatened by the growth and prosperity of the Kukis…”

 He also claimed that this is not just a land dispute but also an identity crisis and that Christianity is changing the North East of the country and that he was shocked to see the number of churches in the region. 

“… as a result, there’s a lot of threat, there’s a lot of concern among the Meiteis, the Kukis are taking over because they’re buying land and they’re not able to sell it, and yeah just in a nutshell, there’s the conflict comes down to a land dispute, of course, a land dispute but it’s not only a land dispute, it’s an identity crisis because like I said Christianity has rapidly it’s terraforming Northeast India I mean it’s completely radically altering the landscape of this region. It’s amazing, I’m shocked, I’ve never seen so many churches consolidated in such a small geographical region and this is actually a large geographical region. Northeast India is is is a considerable land and so Christianity is a force to be reckoned with in Northeast India. This is not merely an ethnic feud, it’s not merely a family feud, this is not merely anything like that, this is faith-based my dear friends.”

He blames the ruling central government and the Prime Minister for wanting to change this country into a Hindu country and that they have deliberately persecuted Christians and Muslims to make it a homogenous Hindu land. – “… there are the powers that be the current political party of India, the BJP Janata Party wants this country to be a Hindu country, the current prime minister is a radical, they have deliberately persecuted Christians and Muslims, trying to make this uh a homogeneous Hindu land which violates the very spirit of the Indian constitution.”

He claims that at least 400 churches were burned down and that this was documented online.

“… I’ve confirmed this with local sources with local people I’ve spoken to and also it’s documented online, you can Google it because I’ve had some people challenge me, oh no that’s exaggerated, that’s an inflated number. It’s not inflated, I’ve asked the local people, and I’ve we visited at least five or six refugee camps in the past two days. I’ve seen hundreds hundreds of Kuki Christians who have been forcibly displaced, their villages were burned to the ground, razed to the ground. Do you understand what I’m telling you, 400 churches at 41 churches in one District alone the Kangpokpi district alone has had 41 Villages razed, burned to the ground for their faith in Jesus, for their Christian identity because they’re not Hindus.”

He says that although the internet is not to be used in the region, he had to spread the message and hence borrowed internet from someone to share the information about the ground situation. He also laid the accusation that the Manipur violence was a human rights violation, he said, “This is a human rights violation, this is an egregious mass human rights crisis that is being ignored by the mass media because it doesn’t fit the narrative.”

He claims that he is in Manipur to do social service, but the person he is with MS Kumar has been seen involved in proselytisation activities.

It is unclear whether the blacklist on him has been lifted and how he managed to enter the country. 

LRPF’s Complaint

LRPF in its complaint to the Commissioner of Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs said that the Christian missionary is in violation of visa rules as it is strictly prohibited for foreigners to be involved in religious activities in India with any visa they hold.

A tourist visa can only be used for non-business purposes, such as tourism or visiting family and friends. Even if one holds a missionary visa, the person cannot use it for proselytizing activities and can only join a missionary organization approved by the Government of India for which the organization must receive a certificate indicating it is compliant with the Foreign Contributions Regulatory Act.

“In this case, Mr Daniel S Courney is a habitual offender, once deported from India but again visited India with the same objective of converting people to Christianity. He is making false accusations against the government of India and provoking the people of Manipur with his hate-filled speech.”, LRPF noted in its complaint.

“Despite being deported in the past, Mr Daniel Stephen Courney has not mended his ways and continues to abuse the visitor visa granted to him. He is lurking on the Indo-Nepal border and sneaking into India regularly. Only permanent blacklisting that a ‘permanent ban’ be imposed on him from entering India by declaring him as ‘Persona non-Grata’ to the government of India.”

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