Conversion to Hinduism

When one is exposed to the term ‘‘conversion’’ in a religious context, images of converting from a religion to Christianity are often conjured. Indeed, within the Western construct, this is the popular image. In Trinidad conversion is almost always viewed in this light. Over the past few years this image has been seriously challenged by various Hindu organisations, which are no longer prepared to allow members of the Hindu community to just simply leave Hinduism. The recent visit by Christian Evangelists to India to augment the conversion effort along with other missionary methods has long gripped the attention of the Western media. The slow but consistent return of these converts to their ancestral religion however does not receive the same level of media attention. This re-conversion drive has taken up momentum in recent years with thousands returning to Hinduism at a time.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists on Sunday February 13 2005 oversaw the reconversion of about 5,000 Christians, including priests, to Hinduism after a “purification” ceremony. This ceremony took place after activists of the Dharma Raksha Samiti of the VHP spread out to 26 villages of Etah and Firozabad districts, spreading over 14 churches being run by Christian priests. The church priests were then made aware of their “moral duty” towards Hinduism, which they had forgotten. In the grand purification ceremony, at least 5,000 Christian convertees were brought back to the Hindu fold, including the priests of the 14 churches, which have now been transformed into Arya Samaj Gurukuls for dalit children. The reconverted priests have been assigned the duty of operating these Gurukuls as teachers.  

During the ceremony, the priests, who had been tattooed with a “cross” at the time of their conversion, were again tattooed with the sign of “Om” on their forearms. Later, all the assembled convertees and VHP activists participated in a communal feast to indicate that although the convertees had been reinducted into Hinduism as dalits, they would be treated as equals in society. The purification ceremony took place in full knowledge of the Etah administration which declined to interfere in the matter claiming it to be a religious matter entirely driven by the will of the convertees. Etah district magistrate RP Shukla said religious freedom is a fundamental right and the administration could only interfere if anyone’s religious freedom is being forcibly challenged. Citing the reason for the need for such a drastic action, Mohan Joshi, secretary of the VHP, who was in Etah especially for this event, said these dalit people who have now been reinducted into Hinduism, had been misled by Christian missionaries into accepting Christianity. 

Instead, they found that by losing their Hindu identity, they had lost their heritage so they were willing to let go of their Christian identity if given a chance. The VHP only acted as an intermediary by providing this opportunity. He said the people who have been purified have signed an affidavit claiming they have accepted Hinduism without any force and on their own free will which proves that the VHP did not force anybody into accepting Hinduism. He also said the priests who have been reinducted into Hinduism have taken a pledge to preach Hinduism and educate dalit children. NRI Bihari Lal alias Kallu, a resident of Surinam, originally a resident of Ghazipur, said he had been given a lucrative offer of employment in a foreign land by Christian missionaries if he accepted Christianity.

This effort by the VHP is by no means singular in nature for The Dalit Ethnic Liberation Organisation (DELO), headed by D Periyasamy, an erstwhile associate of DPI leader Thirumavalavan, had organised a programme in Tiruchi on April 13, 2003 to re-convert Christians to Hinduism. In a media briefing, he claimed that about 5,000 Christians converted to Hinduism on the occasion. He further said his organisation would fight against the practice of untouchability in Hinduism and urged Kanchi Pontiff Jayendra Saraswathi to provide representation to Dalits in the Kanchi Mutt. Welcoming the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion Act, Periyasamy said the status of converted Dalits had been changed from scheduled caste to backward class whereby they lost the privileges for which they were entitled to and to get back such facilities, many of them were returning to their parent religion.

Endorsing Periyasamy’s suggestions, Hindu Makkal Katchi general secretary Arjun Sampath who was also present on the occasion, appealed to the state government to appoint “qualified and devout’’ Dalits as archakas in temples as per the recent Supreme Court ruling. Despite these Hindu successes at reconversion, the struggle of treating  those with a conversion agenda is not an easy one. Rajendra Pillai, founder and director of Turning Point, an organisation dedicated to equipping and  inspiring Christian writers, had written an article on cultural  “insights” that can be used to convert Hindus to Christianity.

Much of  the article is excerpted from his 2003 published book, Reaching the World in Our Own  Backyard. Pillai says, “We are slowly realising that our  neighbourhoods, communities and workplaces are changing. We’re waking up  to the fact that we now have new kinds of neighbours — they look  different, they speak a different language, they eat different kinds of  food and speak with a foreign accent. We know they aren’t Christians, because they worship other gods.” He adds, “Each one of us can now be a missionary in our own communities.”