Now Hindutva forces target Muslims and Christianity for conversions

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL

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If Christians feel elated that Indian Hindutva forces target only Muslims, they should now  have got the reason for concern as the Hindutva forces led by elected BJP representatives of India also now focus on Christians whom they want to reconvert into Hinduism.  Reports suggest that a Yogi Adityanath, a four-time member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, vowed to convert hundreds of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism on Christmas Day, despite a police investigation into an earlier round of conversions. This Hindu priest-turned-lawmaker is guiding Hindu organizations to push for conversions.

India’s 1.2 billion people are predominantly Hindus who, now with new economic and political clout,  are eager to showcase their power to minorities. But the country also has some 170 million Muslims and a small proportion of Christians. The constitution grants equal rights to everyone, but hardline Hindu groups have become more assertive since the BJP came to power with a strong election victory with a clear majority for the first time in Indian history this year by riding over misrule of Sonia-Manmohan  led UPA government  and that the worst fears of minorities may be coming true.

Religious conversions in multi-faith India are threatening to sow fresh discord as Muslim groups and opposition parties accuse organizations tied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party of trying to undermine the nation’s secular foundations.

Hindu fundamentalists use money and posts for converting Muslims and Christens into Hinduism. Recently some Muslims have been forcefully converted into Hinduism  Police said they were investigating a case in which Muslim slum-dwellers complained they had been tricked into a Hindu conversion ceremony in Agra, lured by the promise of cheap government rations and voter identity cards.

Yogi Adityanath and company are now focusing on Muslim dominated regions of India and said an even bigger ceremony to convert Muslims would be held in the northern town of Aligarh as scheduled and that it was an entirely voluntary affair. “We have been doing this every year for the past 10 years. It’s not a conversion, it is a Hindutva homecoming,” he said, adding that the families signing up for the ceremony were originally Hindus.

Unlike during the Vajpayee era, the Modi government systematically promotes Hindutva moorings and hatred for minorities. Central ministers hurl insult on Muslim and Christians and they are sure both the government and judiciary would stand by their Hindutva hate politics. Not long ago, Niranjan Jyoti, the junior minister for food processing industries, asked whether the country should be governed by "the children of Ram (a Hindu god) or the children of bastards" at an election rally. The comment was widely believed to have been an attack on the legitimacy of the country's Muslim and Christian minorities. Last week, a government minister apologized for making derogatory remarks about non-Hindus. Last week Sakshi Maharaj, another Hindu activist parliament member representing the BJP, withdrew his remarks that the man who shot independence leader Mahatma Gandhi was a patriot.

However, the BJP denies any bias against minorities but says it opposes appeasement of any community. Modi has said he wants to focus on delivering economic growth for all Indians. But his rivals say he has to rein in the hardliners in his camp who are pursuing a divisive agenda. “These conversions are just the beginning,” warned Mulayam Singh Yadav, a leader of a regional group. “If this spreads to other parts of the country, there can be riots.”

The Modi government seems to honor all those who helped the Congress government in dismantling the historic Babri mosque, especially Vajpayee who celebrated the falloff Mosque in Hindu India

One also fears if the Modi government would let Hindu extremists to kill those Muslims and others who oppose the Hindutva hatred ideology. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Hindu nationalist and RSS strategist Nathuram Godse and for years rightwing Hindu nationalist organizations were banned, even though they were exonerated of the killing. Sakshi’s remarks touched off an uproar in parliament where opposition MPs refused to allow any business until he retracted. “These people talk of development, but are trying to create a rift in society,” Hussain Dalwai, a Congress lawmaker said. However, he does not acknowledge the fact that it was Congress party which promoted and pampered the Hindutva elements in order to control Muslim population and it did so with assurance of support of police, military, intelligence, judiciary and media.

Western powers, unlike Arab world, would step in to protect Christens in India as their prime duty through diplomatic and other channels. 

Prime minister Modi need to ponder over the consequences of anti-Muslims drive by his party people because Congress and other so-called secular parties, which did not protect the Babri Mosque from Hindutva criminal mobs, would use it in their favor only to get Muslim votes.