Yesterday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh raised concerns over the issue of mass conversions, claiming these are detrimental to peace and national security. Addressing at a function organized by ‘Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh’, Rajnath Singh made the remark, “If you’re Hindu be Hindu, Muslim be Muslim, Christian be Christian. Why do you want to convert the whole world?” This is a bold statement of the BJP government with intent to curb the nefarious motives of the shady organizations which try to lure people into religious conversion.
Union Minister further stated that the government supports the freedom to follow any religion but the issue of mass conversion needs to be debated as it is becoming a matter of concern for the country. He also added, “I have never discriminated on the basis of caste, creed and religion in my life. Whether or not we get votes. Whether or not we form the government, whether we win or lose. But we will never discriminate among people. This is what our Prime Minister feels”.
The statement is of great significance coming from the Union Home Minister. For one, he was speaking at Christian gathering; as the church has been time and again accused of forceful conversions. Secondly, this may probably be the first time that the issue of mass conversion has been raised by a serving home minister in terms of a security issue.
Speaking about the issue of conversions, Rajnath Singh said again, “I would also say one thing on the Christian community. We do not want to level allegations against anybody. You may have also heard. If somebody wants to accept a religion, he should do that. There should not be any objection to it. But if mass conversion starts happening, large number of people start changing their religion, then it could be a matter of concern for any country”. Lately, there have been various instances of mass conversions through foul means especially in areas where literacy levels are low. Christian missionaries converting poor people by promising them a good standard of living are a major menace all over the world. India has been one of the top targets of Christian missionaries. Last year during the month of June, a conversion racket had emerged in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The Pastor of Mulhera church in Meerut, Father Deependra Prakash Maalewar, had been converting poor Hindu families in the village. He had offered them Rs. 15,000 along with a government job if they abandoned their religion and embraced Christianity.
Earlier, a case of conversion had surfaced where Christian missionaries gave poor slum dwellers samosa in Agra and asked them to get converted for better education for their children. A similar incident came into public attention when Police arrested nine people in Hyderabad for converting poor Hindu students to Islam in November, 2017. These instances are just the tip of the iceberg.
The issue of religious conversion is a constant and prominent issue in the political discourse of the nation. Religious conversions are the “dark-side” of the so-called social welfare groups and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). The Modi government had also banned various NGOs indulging in shady foreign funding. Liberal media and beneficiaries of illegal funding have time and again taken a jibe at the saffron party government and accused them of promoting communal agenda.
Citing various examples of the liberal media’s attempt to portray the BJP government in bad light by harping on the issue of communal clashes, Rajnath Singh further said, “Recently, stones were pelted at the churches. Some priests came and met me to demand security. I assured them all that those behind it will be punished. I also assured security to them. But it (stone pelting) started a month before the assembly elections and stopped a month after that. What would you say on that? Whose conspiracy is that”
Obviously, there is merit in believing that many conversions to Islam or Christianity took place due to the good deeds of Sufis, Peer babas or missionaries, but all that goodness still cannot change the past. What is certain though, is that conversion under coercion must be banned. Economic inducements also cannot be a reason for conversion. We have to move past the era when a bag of rice was sufficient inducement for an individual to change his religion. Freedom of religion, as with all other freedoms, needs to be tempered with a sense of responsibility and duty to the nation.