Religious conversion has been a subject of dispute for ages and the
Church has been well known for conversion activities to spread
Christianity through out the world in its pursuit of souls for
harvesting. It mostly follows the strategies of allurement and
pressure to convert the people following other religions. Pope John
Paul, when he visited India, had openly called for the evangelisation
of Asian continent and ordered his Padres to harvest maximum number of
souls in Asia in general and India in particular. The renewed
campaign, which started then with full force, has increased manifold
with the development of a close relationship between the Church and
the Pseudo-secular political parties. This relationship has been
possible due to the considerable chunk of Christian vote bank and the
Church's involvement in education and health sectors
The old style of the Church with regards to conversion has been to
influence the elite class of a society first, and in India it did
attempt to propagate and influence the Brahmin community during the
initial stages. But, as the Brahmins have been the protectors of the
Vedic philosophy and practitioners of the Vedic traditions, which have
been the hallmarks of the cultural heritage of this great nation, they
strongly opposed the moves of evangelizations. Later on, as it
realised that the focus on Brahmins would be a waste of time and
resources, the Church started to focus on other castes and in the
process it drove a wedge between the Brahmin and non-Brahmin elites.
As a last resort, it forced its way into the so-called lower
denominations, which also formed the major chunk of the society. As
its target group was gullible, the Church easily exploited the
innocence, thereby earning huge dividends.
The three hundred years of Christian invasion helped the Church to
establish its missionaries at various pockets of the country,
particularly in tribal areas and rural India and since then the
harvesting has been going on slowly and steadily. After Independence,
the Constituent Assembly's noble intention of giving room for
'propagating' one's religion' helped the Church to score brownie
points. This is evident from the fact that the Northeast, which was
predominantly Hindu at the time of independence, has become almost
totally Christian within fifty years. Similarly in the south, where
the Portuguese onslaught paved the way for the establishment of
Christianity, conversions have been rampant. Goa, which was the focus
of Christian Persecution during the Portuguese invasion, has turned
out to be predominantly Christian. As the Portuguese landed in the
coastal areas of Tamilnadu too, the state has witnessed laborious
activities by the missionaries, which was helped by people like
G.U.Pope and Bishop Caldwell. Later on the Church and Missionaries
were, and are still, aided and abetted by the Dravidian Movement, with
an ulterior motive of isolating the Tamil people from the Hindu fold.
Kerala has a few districts, which are dominated by the community,
particularly Syrian Christians, who form 80% of the 22% Christians in
the state. After achieving a considerable harvest in Goa and Kerala,
the other three states of TN, AP and Karnataka have become the focus
of missionaries.
With stiff opposition from the Hindu religious, cultural and social
organszations, the Church has been adapting different strategies to
achieve the objective of soul harvesting. As the nation was reeling
under poverty, illiteracy and ill-health due to the thousand years of
looting by the Islamic and Christian Invaders, the education and
health sectors came in handy for the Church and Missionaries to
strategise and channelise their conversion methods. Apart from Health
and Education, they also started applying a novel method called
'Inculturation', which dates back to as early as the 17th Century.
Robert de Nobili, a Jesuit from France, who came to India in the early
17th century, wanted to pose himself as a Brahmin from Rome after
learning Sanskrit and a few Vedic scriptures too. He wore saffron
robes and conducted discourses living in a hut and claimed that the
Bible was one of the lost Vedas! As he gave a Hindu colour to himself,
he was quite successful with a large gathering of followers, until
when the people realised his dubious motives (Refer: The Portuguese in
India, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 1990). As the European religious
leaders were not convinced of his methodology, they didn't apply his
strategies elsewhere.
Moreover, as Hindu leaders like Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji, Ambedkar
and Narayana Guru had thorough knowledge of Christianity and its
motives of evangelisation, the Church and missionaries could not
extend their activities beyond a certain limit and confined their
operations to rural and tribal areas. Even during the time of Nehru,
who made no bones about his sense of vagueness for Hinduism, the
Congress government in Madhya Pradesh constituted the Niyogi
Commission (1956), which confirmed the dubious methods adopted by the
Churches & Missionaries for harvesting souls and it also recommended a
'ban' on conversions. Despite Nehru's mistake of failing to table the
Commission's report, the Congress government in MP went on to enact
the anti-conversion law called the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantraya
Adhiniyam in 1968 following Orissa, which passed the Orissa Freedom of
Religion Act, 1967. Later in 1977, the Supreme Court of India upheld
the Constitutional validity of both the laws through the Stainislaus
v. State of Madhya Pradesh (AIR 1977 SC 908) case. Now, Gujarat has an
Anti-Conversion Law in practice and other BJP ruled states have also
followed suit.
In the last three to four decades, the Church and Missionaries have
developed a close rapport with the pseudo-secular political parties by
showing its vote bank as a trump card. The Church has now revived the
process of 'Inculturation' with an aim to adopting the
well-established Hindu cultural practices to make a changeover in the
minds of the gullible masses.
The Church has started setting up Hindu type of buildings and called
them as 'Catholic Ashrams' controlled by 'Saffron robed' Padres
projecting themselves as 'Swamijis'. The Hindu style of architecture,
construction, layout and interior designs are being followed. The
buildings also have the Sanskrit 'Ohm' symbol in front of them and the
saffronised Padres claimed that Ohm is not Hindu, but Vedic! Some
Churches also sculpture the statues of Jesus in 'meditating' posture
(Kerala), Jesus sitting cross-legged on a lotus (Hyderabad), Jesus
emerging after a purification bath in Ganges (Haridwar) and they even
claim that yoga and meditation are not connected to Hinduism and that
they are universal, common to all religions! The 'Ashtothram' and
'Sahasra Naamam' (108 and 1008 names) have also been prepared for
performing 'Archana' on Jesus and the 'Aarti' is also being performed.
In Tamilnadu, Churches have started 'Padayatras' for Velankanni
Shrines, some times even with the 'Irumudi' (similar to the one taken
for Sabari Mala Yatras). The Velankanni pilgrims have started wearing
saffron robes. Many Churches have started giving 'Chakra Pongal'
(Sweet Rice) as 'Prashadams' for the people. Apart from Velankanni in
Nagapattinam, the Velankanni shrine in Besant Nagar, Chennai also
follows these practices of inculturation. The seemingly deliberate
setting up of 'Mary shrines' in street corners, next to 'Vinayaga'
enclosures / small temples, is a concerted effort to replace 'Goddess
Maariamman' from the scheme of things as they exist now. Evangelists
have been seen brazenly telling the village people that Mary (Mother)
and Mari (Amman) are one and the same. During festival times one can
find digital banners in the Santhome area of Chennai City near Marina
Beach, claiming Mary as 'Thiru Mayilai Annai' (Mother in Mylapore),
while the true 'Thiru Mayilai Annai' is Goddess Karpagambaal of
Kapaaleeshwarar Temple, which was demolished by the Portuguese. The
whole world knows that 'Girivalam' (Circumambulation of Hill Temples)
is being performed at Thiruvannamalai every 'Pournami' (New Moon Day)
and the same practice has been started by Churches at many places
after erecting a huge Cross and a Prayer House on Hillocks. A Church
on the hillock at a place called Achirupakkam near Melmaruvaththur Adi
Parashakthi Temple is a classic example for Chrsitian Girivalam. The
Church has adapted every Hindu practice and the only thing left is the
replacement of 'Hindu Murthis' with Jesus and Mary statues, which is
most likely to happen anytime if this inculturation continues. The
Churches claim that this concept of inculturation has been aimed at
bridging the divide between Indian Cultural Experience and the Western
Character of Christianity.
Similar to the Christianising of Yoga and Meditation, fine arts like
Baratha Natyam is also allegedly being Christianised by a few
institutes in the country. The adaptation of practises of Hindu
religion, culture and fine arts by the Church and missionaries with an
intention of de-Hinduising them, have created havoc in the psyche of
the Hindu majority provoking it beyond the limits of tolerance.
The only remedy lies in bringing a Constitutional Amendment. At
present, the Constitution ensures 'Freedom of Religion' to practise &
propagate and certainly doesn't grant the right to convert others. The
relevant 'Article-25', which ensures freedom of religion, is subject
to public order, morality and health. But, the process of
inculturation being practised by the Church now, violates all and
calls for a total ban on such attempts and a legislation of a Central
Anti-Conversion Law. Also, the Constitution must be amended, so as to
remove the word 'propagate', which is deviously used by the Church.
The minorities must be allowed to practice their religion. But it
should not be done at the cost of national interest and communal
amity.
