Hilda Raja On Ghar Wapasi Programme

Subject: Hilda Raja On Ghar Wapasi Programme We are just forwarding a mail on the above for the pleasure of a very simple,  excellent and smooth reading of a piece from none other than Hilda Raja sitting  in one corner of the country. We are grateful to the senior scholar guide who bothered  to share this piece with us.  Opposition targets government on conversion in Agra’…  ‘Bid to impose Hindutva agenda”… This and more we heard and saw in Parliament  on ‘ghar wapsi’. According to Mayawati, ‘Secularism is part of the Constitution-they (read RSS) are  violating the basic tenets, BJP has a hand in it’. It was all pandemonium let loose in both the Houses with members dashing into the  well. It seems as though some new danger has been sighted by them some danger to  the Constitution and to the secular fabric of India . Suddenly the MPs have become  sensitive to upholding the Constitution when they do not even uphold the oath they  take to function without fear or favor….  It seems that at least occasionally the MPs  are conscious that we have a Constitution. When the UPA government was in power the Constitution was eroded and every tenet  of it dented and over ridden. But what I cannot understand is the fact that conversions  have been always forced. This was the strategy from time immemorial. Not only in India  but the world over But let us focus on India alone now. It has been a continuous  conversion business. The invaders who came to India did not just stop with plundering the country and  becoming rulers but they brought along their missionaries and their churches. First it  was the Dutch, then the Portuguese then the French and finally the English. All these  indulged in ruthless conversion through force and whatever methods possible. The poor Indians had no other option but bend to the powerful. This is relevant to  realize that all Indians-have their ancestry in Hinduism. St Francis Xavier used every force-fraud and even the Inquisition to convert Hindus.  Those who did not fall in line had to flee or were tortured and killed. History records  his barbarism and  the brutality with which he dealt with the Hindus. Places of worship  were raided-destroyed and his public punishment was chopping off the hand for those  who followed any form of Hinduism. The pillar where these unfortunate ones were  dragged and hand chopped off is called the Pillar –De- Amputation. This pillar even today  exists in Old Goa . This is the reason why the victims of Francis Xavier oppose the public  display of his corpse. But the Church has raised him as a saint . That may be old history but what about the much revered Mother Theresa. Did she not  use blackmail to convert? Innocent children who were dying-the old and the infirm were baptized all under the  garb of caring for them. They were not even aware of what was happening to them.  They were in pain and in utter misery.  Today the church looks on innocently.   So when one says there should be no forced conversions I am flabbergasted because  all conversions have some sort of a force-be it physical, psychological or social.  Allurements and enticements were used especially where there is starvation and disease  and pain and hopelessness. How did the North East States become Christians-due to their volition? I know a Salesian  priest who used to write to my husband to send money for conversion.  He even revealed that ‘the priests do not go openly but through the catechist(a low level  functionary of the Church) we  approach the tribal people and give them money and  promise other benefits’ . So for a loaf of bread for a few rotis and for a few rupees these  unfortunate ones are ready to change their religion. Is this faith or force?  Has this changed? Not one of the so called political leaders raised their voices against Mother Theresa’s  blatant conversion business? Where was the Constitutional norm then? Where was secularism then? So it is only when the Hindus engage in ‘ghar wapsi’ that our political netas become  aware of the Constitution and secularism and cry themselves hoarse-They then pose as  great defenders and champions of secularism. This is a fraud and an injustice. This  double standard is what they always resort to. When I was working in a village project in the outskirts of Chennai-near Mahabalipuram  many of the SC families told me that they were converted by the local parish priest.  This they said was for their children to get admission in a minority run institution and  or to get some employment. They did not mention cash . I am fully aware that the tactics used in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh (may be in  other States also of which I do not have firsthand knowledge) the priests tell them  plainly to continue with their Hindu names and enter in their application forms as SCs  so that they get all the benefits due to the SCs but in reality they are all Christians. So  Varadan becomes Victor for the Church record but for government records he continues  to be Varadan. Take the example of Andhra  Pradesh’s former Chief Minister Rajasekaran Reddy. Many  thought he was a Hindu but his first name is Samuel. These are not exception cases but  the normal rule-the double deception that the Christians used. The thousands of conversions  that he affected through the evangelical church of his by giving them money and luring  them with other promises is well known to those in AP . But a reading of the historical  data on Church history will be an eye opener for those who today think that ‘ghar wapsi’  is against the Constitution and secularism. Where did this notion of secularism go when thousands of years conversion was only  through force? In recent times too it is covertly done. Whether some netas like it or not how does one  account for the millions of other religious followers. Does it mean that on their own  accord through faith and belief and enlightenment they all got converted? Did the Muslims not convert through the sword? Is there no love jihadi? It is common for the Muslim/Christian to marry a Hindu and then later convert the  partner to the Muslim /Christian religion.  But as far as I know the Hindus did not go  in for conversion. Today one talks of ‘ghar wapsi’-I fail to understand why this full throated Opposition.  Where did this opposition go when conversions were taking place in India earlier and  now only through some form of force. The Constitution has paved the way for this business by granting Minority Rights to  the Minorities. Hence right from a tender age children are segregated in Christian  institutions and in Madrassas and groomed to think that they are different from others  on the basis of religion. So we Christians think and proclaim that we have the ONE true God…Children  brainwashed thus are subjected to forced-an intellectual force- where by they think  in terms of differences and grow up thus in ghettos. We have Catholic doctrine for the Catholics, Bible classes for the Christians and  Ethics for the Hindus. All this in Minority institutions which is run on government money. I do not know if  other education Institutions also follows the same. Is this secularism? As though the Catholics and the Christians and the Muslims do not need ethics!!! Why is it when one says that India is a Hindu country there is so much of opposition  and anger-but then one says that Pakistan is a Muslim country and so are other  Middle East countries there is no adverse reaction. If in conversation one terms the UK/US and other European countries as Christian  countries there is no objection. Why this allergy to call India a Hindu country? That does not mean others cannot live here and that does not mean that secularism  is thrown out. It simply means that Hinduism was in India as far as memory goes-it is  as old as this country. Hinduism sprung from the soil of this country and did not come  from any other shores-unlike other religions. So what is the problem in calling a spade  a spade? Similarly when one talks of Hindutva the so called secularists see red. Is it wrong or against secularism to be nationalist and a patriot? I think it a weakness and a phobia of the so called ‘secularists’. After all let us be  honest when Jinnah wanted Pakistan the reason he gave was that the Muslims will  not be able to coexist with the Hindus. So he wanted the country to be partition  which was done. Now can the Hindus not have their own ethos and their own religion and their own  perception of nationalism? What is the problem in accepting this simple truth that this in no way destroys  secularism. For that matter it is the politicians who are hell bend in destroying  secularism. Why even the demand of reservation on the basis of religion is anti-secular.  For the sake of vote bank politics the political leaders divide the people. We have other  religious leaders even threatening the Hindus. The political leaders simply looked the  other way when conversions in large numbers were taking place. But now that the Hindus have started the ‘ghar wapsi’ they pretend to be shocked  that secularism is being destroyed. I remember some years ago in Trichirapally in Tamilnadu one of the pastors baptized  even those who were not present because their names were on the list but were  unable to attend the service. It is well known that evangelical churches look for  numbers and even poach on other churches members. Foreign funds flow in depending on numbers. One has to watch a couple of  channels in the TV to realize this. The psychological blackmail that these pastors  indulge in is a fraud and vulnerable people fall a prey to it. The testimonies of cures- the revelations etc are all a fraud inflicted on a vulnerable already affected and  afflicted populace. The political netas are not worried about this. As long as it is not Hinduism they simply look the other way. It seems to be a sin or  an aberration if one is a devote Hindu but if one is a devote Christian /Muslim then  it is not frowned upon. And that the devotedness of being a Christian/Muslim mean…even when it comes to  following  the anti-secular dictates of their religion like the ‘fatwa. It is no secret that  Muslim scholars keep on repeating that Islam is a peace loving religion. Is that what  the world experience –see in the Islamic countries. Even another Islamic sect is not  tolerated. The World Human Rights forums do not raise their voices against the  persecution, the killings the beheadings and above all the terrorism unleashed by  religion. It is only when the Hindus raise their voices and reconvert then hackles are raised  that it is unconstitutional and against secularism. This is not only a double standard but an injustice and a display of a warped  perception. Dr Mrs Hilda Raja, Vadodara, Gujarat