The two pastors have already quit the valley. They left soon after Pastor C M Khanna (who lived in Kashmir for past several years) was released on bail on December 1, 2011. The J&K police had arrested him on November 19, 2011 on charges of fomenting communal trouble in the state. All India Christian Council in a statement on Friday feared that the Sharia court's threatening that it would issue a sentence soon could "encourage extremist elements to indulge in violence." Christian Council secretary general Dr John Dayal said that the church in India "displayed remarkable sobriety and a sense of responsibility in their response" to the arrest in Srinagar of CM Khanna, pastor of the All Saints Church "on the demand of a local Mufti." "It was hoped that religious and secular authorities, and the state government, would show maturity and responsibility keeping in view the delicately poised public peace situation and the hardship the common people have faced at the hands of terrorists of various hues and other agencies."
The Church, he said, "does not accept as genuine any conversion brought about by fraud or force." Dr John Dayal pointed out that a fact finding team which went to Srinagar in the wake of the arrest of pastor Khanna, and interviewed Church personnel, Ulema, school, authorities and police, found no evidence of force or fraud in baptisms that have been carried out over a period of time. "Each baptism has been proved to be voluntary. The Christian community in the entire valley does not number more than 400, and has lived in peace with its neighbours for the last century and a half," the statement said. Dr John Dayal said that it was the responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir Government, religious leaders and people of goodwill in the Kashmir valley to ensure that the rights of minorities were respected, their welfare assured, and communal harmony strengthened in the region which desperately required an environment of peace.