Forced Conversion: the untold truths
What is however is not being debated at all in the
mainstream media is that if any forced conversion is taking place in India, it
is the conversion of Muslims to Hinduism. In most cases, such conversions take
place under compulsion or as a result of lucrative offers. To make it look
technically correct considering the fact that Hinduism does not permit
conversion, the term “Re-conversion” is used.
Dr Javed Jamil
If the media reports and the statements emanating from
the Hindutva brigade are believed, it would appear that conversion in India is
a one way affair, with Hindus converting to Islam. Whatever the reasons of the
conversion, the picture which is presented for public consumption is of a
large-scale conspiracy, most likely a part of the global effort, aimed at
converting Hindus to Islam so that the demography of the country tilts in
favour of Muslims. ”Love Jihad”, they seem to argue, is the latest in a series
of the methods used for the purpose. The idea that even if any conversion to
Islam is taking place in the country, it is not only very low in magnitude but
is also voluntary in most cases is conveniently forgotten. Even the conversions
as a result of love marriages are mostly voluntary if not by heart, the reason
being that most of Muslim boys do not like to flout its religious position,
which disallows marriages with polytheists. Fallen in love, girls prefer to
marry even if it means abandoning their religion. This is among many
compromises that the couples make in order to marry one another.
What is
however is not being debated at all in the mainstream media is that if any
forced conversion is taking place in India, it is the conversion of Muslims to Hinduism.
In most cases, such conversions take place under compulsion or as a result of
lucrative offers. To make it look technically correct considering the fact that
Hinduism does not permit conversion, the term “Re-conversion” is used. The way
things are looking, Re-conversion can soon become a national campaign. If one
surfs the Internet, one will easily find such news items on the websites
dedicated to Hinduism. A report entitled, “More than 5500 Christians and Muslims returned to
Hinduism in UP” says:
“A Great News from the heart land
of Uttar Pradesh. Thousands of converted Hindus have been opted again
their faith of their forefathers and returned to Hinduism again.
“On the eve of Christmas there was a
hue and cry that the saffron brigade of RSS (Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangha), VHP
(Vishwa Hindu Parishad), Bahrag Dal, Arya Samaj and Hindu Yuva Vahini would
march forward to accept and assimilate their own brothers and sisters who
shifted out of faith decades back in a spell of blunder and within an fraudulent
ambit of allurement of the evangelical groups or the repressive Islamic
elements empowered with inhumane forces.
“On the very 25th Dec this year
2013, more than five thousand people returned to Hinduism and said
goodbye to Christianity in a vast area of Uttar Pradesh in
the localities of Agra, Aligarh, Kasganj, Bareilly, Badaun, Bijnor,
Shahjahanpur, Mainpuri and Firojabad.
“The highest re-conversion (Suddhi) in Aligarh, where 2000
Christian became Hindus, was held by Dhrama Jagran Samiti, a specific unit of
VHP to make special efforts to sensitize the sense of Dharma in the marginal
Hindus in any vulnerable condition, likely to be grabbed by the evangelic
elements or other vicious elements like Zakir Naik .
“Chanting of Vedic mantras,
purification with Ganga Water, wearing of sacred threads and sacrifice to
the fire God were the prime rituals that had helped the aspirants to get an
warm entry to Hinduism once gain and for ever. Most of the people who took the
refuge of Hinduism in these programmes, told that they went to another
faith by allurements and embraced Christianity . Seven Muslims in Shahjahanpur
also adopted Hinduism.
“Upon a complaint, details of
conversion in Bijnor, the administration is trying to get exact numbers of such
‘returned to home’ (gar wapsi). From a source it is known that more than
five hundred families (1600 people) became Hindu again. These people are mainly
hailed from Malkan Rajput and belonging to Jat Muslim clan.
“Mayor of Agra Town, Sri Indrajit
Arya was also present in the program. In the ceremony held at Saraswati Vidya
Mandir at Kasganj, 350 families (about 1,000 people) and Firojabad 66 families
(200 people) rejected Christianity and returned to their traditional faith
Hinduism once again.
“Prominent RSS , Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, Hindu Vahini, Arya Samaj and Bajrang Dal leaders and the saints
of Hindu organizations were present in these religious programmes. In
Bareilly, six hundred people embraced Hinduism. Swami Yaswashi Arya of Arya
Samaj sprinkled the holy Ganges water to the aspirants and initiated them
with sacred thread (Yajna-Upaveetam).
“With chanting of Veda mantra and
offering sacrifice in fire the converted Hindus in dilemma, strongly returned
back in Hinduism with full dignity and assurance of the Hindus society in every
respect. In the programme of Draupadi Devi Inter College campus in Badaun, some
918 people of two hundred and twenty families were accepted Hinduism again by
rejecting Christian hegemony and discrimination in such ‘homecoming’
program.
“Various Hindu organisations have
declared to extend their utmost support for providing the free education,
health and rehabilitation for these brothers and sisters came to their own fold
of faith almost a decade after”.
“Earlier, some 325 Muslim members
of 150 families of Eta, Farukhabad, Pilbhit, Kashganj, Mainpuri, Bareilly and
Badaun were assembled in Eta Arsha Gurukul, where they were reconverted into
Hindu Dharma again in presence of Jagadguru Swami Rajrajeswaram of Badrinath
Dham. The Swami initiated all the aspirants in the Hindu Dhrama without
discriminating any caste or creed.
“Saikh Jabbar of Farukhabad and
Mohammad Rauf of Pilvit told that they had a very low position in Muslim
society as their forefathers went to Muslim community from a poor section of
Hindu society.
“Though some Hindi media like Aaj
Tak and Jagran highlighted this news of huge mass re-conversion in Hinduism,
the English media (both print and electronic) skipped the same in a very
strange manner.”
The long report is enough to
indicate the scale of conversion, the active involvement of Hindu organizations
in the exercise, open programmes of conversion in big gatherings and the lure
of better worldly life and opportunities. There is also a visible expression of
excitement, happiness and aggression. .
There is another report which tells how Hindutva
activists created horrible conditions for a family that converted to Islam
resulting in the “Ghar waapasi”:
“Four men of a family
who were arrested on Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri for converting to
Islam have done a U-turn. On Thursday, hours after being released by the
police, they embraced Hinduism at a local temple in presence of Bajrang Dal
activists.
”Religious conversions are allowed in the state only if they are not forced. The people converting have to declare that it is voluntary and seek the state's permission. This was what the men - Tularam Jatav, his son Keshav and relatives Maniram and Makhubhai Jatav - had apparently failed to do when they converted to Islam nine months ago.
”So on Tuesday, these four men accompanied seven of their family members who wanted to convert to Islam to the district magistrate to seek his approval, but activists from Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad protested and tried to convince the family to give up the idea. A day later, they again took their relatives to the magistrate but were arrested and booked under Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 1968.
”Seven other family members, including three women, were detained for questioning. If found guilty, the men would have been sent to jail for two years.
”On Thursday, the police, without disclosing any information, let off the four arrested men on bail and the seven detained. The Jatavs reached their village in Thaniyadana area, offered their prayers at a local temple and after a "shuddhikaran" or purification ceremony, again adopted Hinduism.
"I feel I am happy to return back to my religion. We had converted earlier to Islam as we were being discriminated, whereas in Islam, everyone is treated equally. But now that the family and relatives convinced me, I have re-converted," said Maniram.
”Local Bajrang Dal leader Manoj Kumar said, "These people were misled and now they have come back to their own religion. We are happy to welcome them back."
”The VHP and Bajrang Dal are both part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-led pro-Hindu conglomerate that includes the state's ruling BJP.”
Yogi Sikand, a social scientist who converted to Islam
several years back and married a Muslim girl later, has also written on the
subject, and has described how certain communities like Rajputs and Jats,
particularly in Rajasthan and Haryana, are vulnerable to the efforts of the
Hindutva organisations. These communities living in the midst of a dominant
and aggressive Hindu majority find hard to resist the pressures built on them
by Hindutva forces. Once back in the Hindu fold, they are offered lucrative
jobs and other supports. The numbers of such conversions, according to the
writer, are large.
The Hindutva ideologues and political leaders are busy
proving that the number of Muslim boys marrying Hindu girls is much greater
than the number of Hindu boys marrying Muslim girls. This may be true. But the
reasons are not what they are trying to prove. If Muslim boys are marrying
Hindu girls, the reason is simply that Muslim boys come into contact with
greater number of Hindu girls than Muslim. In my college, King George’s
Medical College, Lucknow, for example, there were 9 Muslim boys in my batch out
of a total number of 170 students. There were around 40 girls, with only 2
being Muslims. If none of my Muslim batch mates happened to marry a Hindu girl,
it was not because they did not get the opportunity. If they had chosen, at
least some of them would have easily married Hindu class fellows. But they
preferred to marry within their own religion on account of the obvious reasons.
Not only Hindu girls are more in number, they tend to
be more open to love marriages. Muslim families resist love marriages more than
Hindus. Majority of Muslims also tend to have stronger religious convictions
than majority of Hindus. Moreover, love marriages with Muslim boys more often
than not are solemnised without any dowry, and this may be one of the reasons
why Hindu parents tend to accept these marriages.
As far as the issue of converting to Islam is
concerned, I know many Hindu men and women who have converted to Islam without
a love affair. Most of them had to face serious threats from the Hindutva
activists. I know some Hindus who did not convert to Islam despite the fact that
they loved it just because of the social complications it created. The truth
is that if any Hindu is accepting Islam in India, this is not due to any
pressure from Muslims but despite the pressure by Hindu organisations and
families against converting.
Muslims have already clarified in no uncertain terms
that if there are any cases of fraudulent marriages involving Muslims, they do
not support them and all these cases must be dealt with in accordance with the
law of the country. This is another matter that many laws relating to such
marriages need to be revisited. Fraudulent marriages are increasingly becoming the
order of the day in the country, and an overwhelming majority of these
marriages has nothing to do with religion or caste.
The conversion for the sake of allurements like money
and under compulsion has no place in Islam. Such “Muslims” are no Muslims in
the sight of God. But it appears that conversions from Islam to Hinduism for
similar reasons are openly relished by the Hindutva lobbies. The
campaigns against “Love Jihad” and “forced conversion to Islam” are only aimed
at justifying their own sinister plans for the future. They have no love for
their religious principles; they are only interested in dominating the country
through consolidation of Hindus on the plank of hatred. Mercifully for the
country, the true Hindus who love their religion are too many to let these
forces prosper for long. But the dangers loom large on the solidarity of the
nation.
* Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”. Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com or 91-8130340339. For his shayri visit http://urduyouthforum.org/shayari/poet-Dr-Javed-Jamil.html
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