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Do conversions endanger unity of the country?
January 5, 2004, 9:57 pm
By Joginder Singh, IPS (Retd.)
Any ideal and homogenous system of governance should be uniformly applicable and acceptable to all classes of people. But in actual practice, some concessions are inevitable to conciliate various groups and classes. Religions have been changing with the times. Religions like Islam and Christianity were based on certain values, traditions, conventions, tenets and commandments. These were sought to be enforced by word of mouth, by conciliation, excommunication and use of force.
The Lord as pictured in the Old Testament is like a commander-in-chief, directing his flock to one way of living, on pain of punishment. Obedience had its rewards and disobedience had retribution, in the form of calamities being rained on the populace. Psalm 13 says, "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man".
Joshua (6-9) reads as under: Be strong and of good courage; for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayst observe to do according to all the law, which Moses, my servant, commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid; neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord, thy God, is with thee, withersoever thou goest".
Achievements, success, and prosperity in life are dependent on following a certain set of values in life as directed by the Lord God. No religion is static, for progress and for keeping in with the time. As the original Christian religion did not stand the rationality test of the changing time, dissenters in every age set up a different version of the same, like the Protestantism, Baptists and Presbyterians, including the Lutherans. The original Catholic Christians are still the dominant majority. Those who found it difficult to follow, joined other streams of Christianity. It has happened to every religion, practically in every age, but imperceptibly.
Islam had its origin in the battles Prophet Mohammed had to fight against non-believers. He had to protect himself, his followers and his teachings. He broke a new path in the age of darkness in Arabia. .He believed in preaching and persuading. He came to an amicable understanding with his rivals about the pilgrimage to be made to Mecca. His followers had different ideas. They did not hesitate using all kinds of means, including coercion and force, in converting others to their point of view and their way of believing in God. In every society and every religion, there are fence - sitters, who would gladly change their beliefs for worldly wealth, glories and comforts.
With the rulers of Arabia converting themselves to the religion propagated by the Prophet, it was a question of time before the entire population professed Islam, partly by persuasion, partly by temptations, allurements and partly by conviction. Muslim rulers followed the same policy, wherever they were in power. Most of them had the one-point programme of seeing all their subjects professing their favoured religion. Islam entered the Indian sub-continent with Mohammed Bin Quasi in 536 AD. The region was subjected to massive conversion to Islam for over 1200 years till the arrival of the British. The cradle of Hinduism and other related religions like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism lost over 330 million people to Islam in the countries known today as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, apart from a large chunk in the present India.
After the arrival of Christian rulers, it was only a question of time that the same policy was started in another garb. Christian preachers approached through the basic needs of the people for medicine, education and sympathy. It showed them in a different light as compared to other religions, which left people to fend for themselves and their faith. Conversions, especially in backward areas, started with these accompaniments. Christianity was not based on any caste classifications. In this way, people could raise their status in the eyes of the British or Portugese rulers by becoming their co- religionists.
Proselytisation is an article of faith with the Christian missionaries, as emphasised by Pope John during his visits to India. The Pope released a document called "Ecclesai in Asia", when he visited India on November 5, 1999. It proclaimed that "Just as in the first millennium the cross was planted in the soil of Europe, and in the second on that of America and Africa, we can pray that in the third millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and vital continent... Evangelisation had to be an absolute priority for the Church in Asia. The Church acknowledged what was true and holy in such religions as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, but Christ offered the way to ultimate salvation".
Pope is regarded as a kind of a deputy to God. According to Christianity, salvation is possible only through the channel of Christ with God. Pope John Paul II called affirmation of faith in Christ as a basic tenet and it remains a call to conversion. Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism do not acknoweldge the existence of any channel for communication with God. Hindus, through they reverse Christ, do not believe that salvation is possible only through believing in Christ as the Son of God.Muslims too reject the concept that Christ is the Son of God.
The emphasis in Article 25 of the Indian Constitution is to ensure equality of all religions. It is a calculated effort to promote secularism. Right to freedom does not indicate or imply unabated, forcible conversions.
One's relationship with God is a personal affair. But what happens in actual practice is that by throwing a few crumbs an effort is made to change the religion of the people. It must be acknowledge that Christian missionaries, by approaching the totally inaccessible and inhabitable areas, have been able to achieve the objective of conversion to Christianity of the simple people residing there. There is no doubt that the Pope's call will lead to the redoubling the efforts for conversion, not only in India, but also in the entire Asia. Wherever there is dire poverty and a poor man is looked after by any denomination, it does not matter to him whether he worships Ram or Rahim or Christ or Waheguru. For the poverty - stricken people, struck by ill health, eking out a livelihood and not religion is of paramount importance. They easily fall prey to fundamentalism of the preachers, economic necessity and survival in the face of terrorists will make even ordinary persons, fundamentalists.
If we had raised the economic standards of the common backward people, the battle against conversions would have been won. It would be necessary to wage a war against poverty, deprivation and ill health. At the same time, it is important to keep in view the activities of the fundamentalists like Osama bin Laden, in whose views embassy bombings in the name of Islam are all right. Hindu religion has been tolerant and the majority has ensured total religions freedom for the minorities. The result is that it has become a minority in Kashmir, Nagaland, and Lakshadweep. The propaganda of conversion based on economic benefit, social standing and medical attention would have to be met by the majority on the same terms as offered by others. However, forcible conversions are abhorent and are neither acceptable nor tolerable.
Government is bound by the Constitution to ensure only freedom of religion, but not the freedom of conversion. It is this tolerance which has changed the demographic pattern in the country and has led to extra- territorial loyalities. A kind of hype has been created, where even to talk about Hindu religion or stopping conversions or preventing the people from going astray is considered anti secular.Hindu and the Sikh religions are the ones where there have been extensive traditions of liberalism. At no time in the history of these religions, there was a period when overt or covert conversions were the rule during the regimes of Hindus and Sikh rulers. There has been no conversion zealot or persecution fanatic greatery than Aurangzeb. Yet Delhi commemorates his name by naming an important road after him.
During the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, when the Sikhs ruled from Afghanistan to Sutlej, jobs went by merit and not by religion. The foundation of the holiest of holy Sikh temple was laid by a Muslim divine Mian Mir. Macaulay says about Sikh relgion: "It prohibits idolatry, hypocrisy, caste exclusiveness, non-cremation of widows, the immurement of women, the use of wine and other intoxicants, tobacco- smoking, infanticide, slander, pilgrimage to the sacred rivers and tanks of Hindus, and it inculcates loyalty, gratitude for all favours received, philanthropy, justice, impartiality, truth, honesty, and all the moral and domestic virtues known to the holiest citizens of any country".
Nepal, the only Hindu kingdom, has a law against conversions. Nobody can change his religon there. While we may not go that far, it is time that Government set up a commission to look into the whole gamut of convesions. It could look into the history of conversions, inducements offered or economic benefits extended to secure such conversions and suggest ways and means to keep peace and harmony in the country. A man is free to condemn others on the ground that he is the sole guardian of the Almighty on the earth. He is also not free to impose his gods or methods of worship on others, Let not the fabric of Indian society be destroyed by a few misguided individuals, by whatever name or garb they may be known.
Note: The views expressed on this site are those of the respective authors and not necessarily those of IACA. This organization is in no way anti-Christian but rather anti-conversion. For more information about us, click here.
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