New Delhi: Walking a tightrope since the arrests of two Keralite nuns in Chhattisgarh after a Bajrang Dal activist’s conversion allegations against them, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now facing the heat from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The VHP is currently pressuring the BJP-led Rajasthan government to constitute a judicial commission to “investigate the black deeds of the Christian missionaries”.
This comes in the backdrop of a political storm within the Opposition and the BJP after the arrests of Sisters Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, along with a tribal man, on 25 July from Chhattisgarh’s Durg station—especially while the BJP attempts to woo the Christian community to make inroads into Kerala.
Speaking to ThePrint, VHP central joint general secretary Surendra Jain called for the establishment of a judicial commission on the lines of the 1954 Niyogi Committee of Madhya Pradesh. Jain, in a warning to the Bhajan Lal Sharma government, said, “The religious society of Rajasthan cannot tolerate the speed at which missionaries and clerics are converting people. The reaction of society can come with intensity at any time.”
He added, “Before such a situation arises, the Rajasthan government should immediately bring an anti-conversion law and strictly stop these activities of conversion, love jihad, and jihadi terror and allow the religious-loving Hindu society of Rajasthan an opportunity to live in peace.”
In 1954, the Madhya Pradesh government set up the Niyogi Committee—following the complaints of conversions of tribal Hindus to Christianity—to investigate the activities of the Christian missionaries in the state. The committee report, published in 1956, made several recommendations to regulate conversions. These included taking prior permission for any conversion and prohibiting inducements, such as offers of employment, education, or social services, for conversions.
In Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh province earlier this month, district-level officials of the VHP held a two-day meeting. “Several decisions were taken, including the setting up of a judicial commission. Many people are expressing an apprehension that both the church and the clerics are also found involved in the drug business,” Jain alleged.
He called on the public to contact the VHP members/offices, or the administration, “if any priest comes to deceive, even in disguise,” to ensure an effective ban on such priests.
Jain said that the Christian missionaries conducted conversions in Rajasthan depending on “fraud and greed” of the people, and their activities had recently spiked. He said a commission such as the one in Madhya Pradesh could probe the anti-Hindu and anti-national activities of the Christian clerics, making the public aware of their conspiracies in depth, so the people in Rajasthan do not get caught in their traps.
Citing “examples”, Jain claimed, “In Jhalawar, some priests, who were converting people by luring them with money, were caught recently and also accused of having narcotic drugs. In Bharatpur also, eight priests and 20 nuns were caught converting people lured with Rs 500 and the promise of a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 once they converted.”
In Banswara, a gang—he further said—was caught doing conversions on the promise of Rs one lakh for converting 10 Hindus to Christianity. “In Neem Ka Thana, the mafia was converting innocent school children, and a government official was also involved … In a case in Ganganagar, the high court had to give orders for action in a case of conversion within three months,” added Jain.
While the organisation demands a judicial commission, VHP central president Alok Kumar met Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma in July this year and demanded an “anti-conversion law”. The organisation, as a part of its expansion plans, has also decided to establish a VHP unit in every village.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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