Pentecostal Pastor Bajinder Singh has been at the heart of many controversies and condemnation on social media due to his fraudulent healing congregations (Changai Sabha). The ‘Yeshu Yeshu’ fame Christian evangelist has been in the news for all the wrong reasons with a woman recently accusing Pastor Bajinder Singh of sexually assaulting and intimidating her.
From murder convict to ‘Prophet’: The meteoric rise of Bajinder Singh
Pastor Bajinder Singh also known as ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh is a controversial Christian evangelist pastor based in Punjab’s Tajpur and runs the Church of Glory and Wisdom, which he founded in 2016. Born on 10th September 1982 in a Hindu Jat family in Haryana, Bajinder Singh’s life took a dramatic turn when he was jailed after conviction in a murder case in 2008. During his incarceration, he converted to Christianity claiming that he experienced miraculous healing after coming in contact with a Christian pastor in jail. After his release in 2012, Bajinder Singh began conducting prayer meetings initially in small gatherings in Chandigarh and Jalandhar claiming to perform ‘miraculous healing’ and cure various ailments in the name of Christ, a modus operandi traced among all Pentecostal pastors in and outside India.
In the year 2016, Pastor Bajinder Singh established his first church in Chandigarh and a second in Tajpur in 2017. In 2018, the Diocese of Jalandhar had in 2018 disassociated the Church from Bajinder. The Jalandhar Diocese PRO, Father Peter, had said that the pastor was in no way aligned with the Diocese. “He ran an independent church, which is not even recognised. His style of preaching does not conform to the mainline churches,” he added.
Despite criticism and controversies, Bajinder Singh’s ministry “Prophet Bajinder Singh Ministry” continued to grow, expanding rapidly to multiple branches within and beyond Punjab, capitalising on his self-proclaimed prophetic abilities and faith-healing theatrics. Singh has used social media aggressively to promote his evangelical activities and lure more and more people, particularly the poor, sick, vulnerable or those from marginalised groups. Pastor Bajinder alone has over 3.74 million subscribers on YouTube and over a million followers on Instagram and regularly posts videos demonstrating his self-proclaimed healing powers.
From hearing disabilities to HIV-AIDS, paralysis to even Cancer, Prophet Bajinder Singh claims to have healed people with these conditions using his ‘Hallelujah’ miracles in his Changai Sabhas (healing congregations).
In one such Instagram post, Pastor Bajinder Singh claimed to have cured a dumb and deaf minor boy using his healing powers.
In another Instagram post published in November 2024, Prophet Bajinder Singh claimed to have healed a woman’s lung cancer after Singh performed a ‘special prayer’ for her. Boasting the so-called miraculous healing, Singh wrote, “A brave woman who battled lung cancer for five long years. Her journey was one of pain, uncertainty, and countless treatments. But today, she stands before us, healed and full of life, with a story that will move your heart. In her darkest moments, she turned to prayer and faith, seeking divine intervention through the prayers of Prophet Bajinder Singh Ji. With unwavering belief and the prophet’s anointed intercessions, she experienced a miraculous healing that defied medical expectations.”
Similarly, while modern science is yet to find an effective cure for HIV-AIDS, Pastor Bajinder claimed to have ‘healed’ a married couple from the ‘Satan’ called AIDS by tapping their head, rubbing their cheeks, and chanting slogans of “Hallelujah”.
Bajinder Singh’s Instagram page where he has amassed over 1.1 million followers is replete with videos of such evidently fraudulent healings from his Changai Sabhas.
In a shameless stunt, 2017 shows how “Prophet” Bajinder Singh brought a dead child back to life. With a massive cross hanging from the boy’s neck, “Prophet” miraculously brings the child “back to life”. In another, he brings a patient who has “been in a coma” back to life.
Pastor Bajinder Singh’s modus operandi of soul harvesting
While there are many Pentecostal pastors and Christian preachers including Ankur Joseph Narula commanding ailments to leave a person’s body in the name of Jesus Christ, conducting dramatic exorcism to ‘ward off devils’, where they stage intense scenes of shouting at supposed ‘evil spirits’, none has been as popular as Prophet Bajinder Singh.
Singh relies on a blend of spectacle, emotional manipulation, and exploitation of the desperation and vulnerabilities of common people. While Bajinder Singh’s fraudulent Changai Sabhas continue unabated and attract huge crowds, his theatrics triggered a meme fest coupled with criticism in 2021 when a video of a minor boy weeping profusely during a Christian missionary event when Pastor Bajinder asks him if his sister could speak earlier and the boy answers in the affirmative while the loud ‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’ song plays in the background. Back then, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote a letter to Mandip Singh Brar, Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh, seeking action against Singh for using a minor boy for forceful religious conversion activity. The boy seen in the video years later said that he will no longer be influenced by any Christian pastor. This episode, however, sparked outrage over how Pentecostal pastors like Bajinder Singh are using minors to further their conversion agenda.
Much like other fraudulent pastors, Bajinder Singh also employs myriad tactics to trick gullible and desperate people into believing his ‘healing’ theatrics in his Changai Sabhas. Besides dramatic exorcism, Singh uses physical gestures like blowing air from their mouths or touching people with random objects, Bible or a Cross—claiming it channels divine powers to cure diseases and fix deformities of handicapped individuals. These theatrics are performed in front of massive, emotionally charged crowds and controlled settings, amplified by loud and catchy music and testimonies from supposed beneficiaries, who are alleged to be planted actors or coerced into giving fake testimonies. This is done to evoke a sense of awe and belief among the gullible attendees and draw them towards converting to Christianity.
Notably, Pastor Bajinder Singh and his Changai Sabhas attract massive crowds in Punjab’s “church belt” districts Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Ferozepur. However, Singh’s activities are not confined to Punjab. Singh has converted a large number of Sikhs and Hindus among other non-Christian communities to Christianity using his fraudulent methods. The controversial pastor has expanded his tentacles to other states including Odisha. Back in 2022, Hindu rights group Kalinga Rights Forum has filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) urging them to ask Odisha DGP to register an FIR against Balangir district Sub-Collector, Lambodar Dharua, for assisting massive Christian conversion event by ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh of Punjab targeting tribal Hindus.
The purpose of these ‘Changai Sabhas’ has been to target vulnerable people—poor, sick, desperate and disillusioned people—promising them instant relief where medicine or resources fail. The idea is to subtly push conversion to Christianity as the path to ‘salvation’ and relief from all worldly problems. All this is done to harvest souls for Christianity.
This soul-harvesting tactic, however, involves retaining Hindu, Sikh or tribal names to blend in culturally and enjoy the benefits including reservations bestowed upon certain caste or tribal groups. The Pentecostal pastors and their teams cater to followers in more conventional ways, openly embracing Punjab’s cultural signifiers—turban, Langar, Tappa, and Gidda—in their sermons. To harvest souls for Christianity, several pastors like Bajinder Singh exploit India’s socio-economic gaps, targeting poor and marginalised communities with financial inducements, promises of jobs and facilitating marriages, ‘miraculous’ cures for ailments and even foreign residency in some cases.
Celebrity endorsements and political patronage help Pastor Bajinder Singh thrive
Pastor Bajinder Singh also enjoys support from politicians and Bollywood actors with many of them often courting controversy for promoting Singh’s fraudulent activities. In November 2021, Singh made it to headlines after former CM of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi and actor Sonu Sood were scheduled to attend his meeting in Moga. Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a protest against him, after which CM Channi decided to stay away from the event.
It was earlier reported how three Bollywood actors namely famous comedian-turned-preacher Johnny Lever, actress Rakhi Sawant and Naagin series fame Sonia Singh had voiced their support for ‘Prophet’ Bajinder and urged people to attend his meeting. Actors Chunky Pandey and Sooraj Pancholi have also been seen in Bajinder Singh’s events.
In recent months, Bollywood actors like Arbaaz Khan, Jaya Prada, Raza Murad and Tushaar Kapoor among others have attended Bajinder Singh’s events in Chandigarh.
Political parties and governments also remain nonchalant in acting against fraudsters masquerading as preachers given they enjoy the support of their massive number of followers and fear upsetting them. Some ‘secular’ parties even patronise these fraudsters for vote-bank politics further emboldening the evangelists like Pastor Bajinder Singh to carry out their conversion activities unabated. Political support, and celebrity endorsements coupled with a social media presence bolstered by professionally produced videos of ‘faith healings’ have cemented Bajinder Singh’s image as a revered figure among his followers and helped him attract more gullible people to the Christian fold.
Rape, fraud, loot and money laundering: The many cases against Pastor Bajinder Singh
Numerous incidents and allegations levelled against Bajinder Singh’s faith healing claims suggest that Singh’s tactics are fraudulent and exploitative. His ‘miracles’ are staged, preying on the desperation of vulnerable people, particularly the poor and those belonging to disadvantaged caste groups. Bajinder Singh’s legal troubles are extensive and span decades. His criminal history began with charges of assault and intimidation in 2006 in Haryana’s Yamunanagar, followed by his murder-related conviction in 2008 which resulted in his conversion to Christianity and foray into Pentecostal evangelism.
In 2018, he was arrested by Police in an alleged rape case in Zirakpur, Punjab. Singh was picked up by the police at the Delhi airport when the self-styled Christian Godman was about to board a flight to London. The victim had alleged that Singh lured her in 2017 on the pretext of taking her abroad. He then allegedly sexually assaulted her at his house in Chandigarh and made a video of the same, which he then used to threaten her. Reports suggest that the victim had paid the accused pastor a sum of three lakh for promising her to be taken abroad.
While Singh secured bail, the case is pending before the court. On Monday (3rd March 2025), the Mohali Court issued a non-bailable warrant against Pastor Bajinder Singh and two others in this case after they failed to appear before the court.
Back in 2022, a 4-year-old girl suffering from cancer died at Prophet Bajinder Singh’s church in Jalandhar’s Tajpur village. The girl’s parents had brought her to Singh’s church after AIIMS doctors gave up on her. The deceased girl’s father revealed how they were asked to pay Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 multiple times to Bajinder Singh and yet he failed to ‘revive’ the girl. The girl’s father alleged that his family was pushed out of the church after the girl’s death. As if this was not inhumane enough, Bajinder Singh’s church allegedly demanded more money from the deceased girl’s family claiming that the pastor would bring her back to life. Back then, the deceased girl’s family had filed a case against Singh.
In 2023, the Income Tax Department raided the residences of two Punjab-based pastors, Bajinder Singh and Harpreet Deol. The raid came after the officers revealed that the pastors had been operating churches under the guise of healing ministries, which are self-styled congregations that accept a significant amount of funding from foreign nations. These are either registered as autonomous religious entities or as societies led by a pastor.
While Singh’s supporters continue to view him as a divine ‘prophet’, his organisation has been accused of collecting large sums under the guise of charitable services and ‘miraculous’ healings raising questions over financial transparency—exemplified by the suspicious Rs 4.3 crore land deal in Mohali. This land deal raised eyebrows back then since it was struck at a way higher price than the area’s market value.
In 2024, an attempt to convert around 400 people to Christianity in a private hotel in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur was exposed by Hindu rights organisations. After the conversion racket was busted, it was revealed that as many as 20,000 poor and vulnerable people of Bharatpur, Rajasthan have so far fallen prey to the trap of religious conversion laid by this gang of evangelists who promised material benefits to those who convert to Christianity. In this case, ‘Prophet’ Bajinder Singh was reported to be the mastermind and he was allegedly transferring funds directly to the accounts of recipients. It emerged that this conversion racket was receiving funding fromthe Italian Christian group Labhana Ministry.
On 1st March 2025, Pastor Bajinder Singh faced fresh allegations of sexual harassment, stalking and criminal intimidation from a 22-year-old woman in Punjab’s Kapurthala. The woman alleged that Bajinder Singh sexually assaulted her as a teenager. The police registered a case of sexual harassment, criminal intimidation and stalking against the Christian evangelist on 28th February 2025. The victim had been attending Pastor Bajinder Singh’s congregation since December 2017. By 2020, she had become a part of his ‘worship team.’ According to the victim, the Christian evangelist began sending her unwanted messages after taking her phone number. Singh, however, has refuted these allegations as baseless.
While authorities have raised concerns over the rapid expansion of Pastor Bajinder’s ministry and fraudulent Changai Sabhas in Punjab and other states like Odisha and Jharkhand, he has not faced any concrete action so far. OpIndia has long been raising the issue of Christian missionaries and pastors harvesting souls for Christianity using fraudulent and exploitative tactics and altering the demographic and cultural fabric of Punjab and other states, however, due to the nonchalance of authorities and lack of political will, Pastor Bajinder Singh and many such ‘faith healers’ continue to run their business of selling the façade of hope and healing.
The ‘Yeshu Yeshu’ fame prophet’s empire of fake miracles and real menace thrives not on some holy favour or divine gift but on the cynical exploitation of faith and vulnerabilities. While cases have been registered against Pastor Bajinder Singh for his alleged involvement in sexual assault, money laundering, fraud, and conversion racket, he is yet to face legal scrutiny for his fake ‘miraculous healings’ at his fraudulent Changai Sabhas.
