If the secular Indian, who is invariably a Hindu, was to believe that the missionary zeal of Christianity, particularly in India, has been diminished by the advent of technology and the preponderance of money in modern life, he is in for a suicidal surprise.
The singularly unified response with nary a dissenter in their midst to the bill banning forcible conversions brought in by the Tamilnadu government is a grim reminder that their secularism is just a smokescreen and behind it resides a hardened core composed of unadulterated religious bigotry and exclusivism that will brook no hurdles.
For, the most vocal antagonists of the Act have been the Christian missionaries and Christian outfits followed by leaders of Dalit organisations. For the former it may mean a death blow to their bread and butter, conversions being big business besides constituting their raison d’ etre and the latter aver that yet another door has been closed on their face. While the reaction of the missionaries, real and veiled, is one of impotent rage, the Dalit leaders’ indignation is a derived anger, prompted by their would-be benefactors who are incensed at an opportunity lost.
Not a day passes without these ‘secular’ stalwarts haranguing on the tube about the usurpation of their only source of salvation but really ending up highlighting how much conversions have been a potent but silent social agent provocateur. If it is such a major issue, as is evident from these champions weeping themselves to death, was the government afterall not right in paying it some critical attention? What a self goal!
Of all the evils that are perpetrated under the garb of religion, conversion is the vilest. The quantum of ‘heathen’ blood spilt in the conversion orgies over centuries across continents would make the oceans of the world seem like puddles. Its sinister operation characterised by its criminal intolerance of other faiths is quite striking, particularly in the Indian context because the nation’s primary religion, Hinduism, is not a proselytising faith thus precluding any counter offensive.
Given its passivity, it is understandable, though not acceptable, for Hinduism to have been under siege during centuries of Muslim and colonial rule, but the continuation of this gross injustice even during secular self-rule is a tragic irony that is difficult to swallow. But that is what the Hindus have been forced to do – swallow all the insults, innuendos and insidious infiltrations perpetrated by these imported faithful, particularly the missionaries, in order to swell their flock and expand their tentacles into all walks of life.
In fact there is very little that can be called religion in their unholy tenure in India and their acts are characterised by the crassest of tricks that only depraved minds can conjure up. Yet it is they who are the most protected species, even at the cost of the mute majority, and the most vociferous too, given their appropriation of almost all available media megaphones. And worse, they are deemed secular too despite their sole agenda being religion and nothing else, while the Hindus who are truly tolerant get branded as communal at the slightest display of defence. The secular sedative has ensured that Hindus would be rendered defenceless in suicidal tranquility against the onslaught of these marauding fanatics whose declared mission is to convert every soul in this land including the ones in the womb.
It is in this wholly lopsided political and social milieu that the issue of conversion and its prevention needs to be assessed. But that is not a very popular approach, at least not with the secular politicos, the myopic media and the secular than thou minorities. But then have not the devils had more than their due for far too long? I for one am inclined to think so. And hence the ensuing series of articles in these columns at regular intervals on this national scourge called conversions.
Though conversions to Buddhism and Islam are also rampant, Christianity’s soul-hunters would merit special attention simply for their holy pretensions and scholarly sacrileges. It is my firm belief that India would never know communal harmony or social peace unless these mischief mongers-missionaries-are put in place, by a combination of force of law and weight of national interest. And this menace is something the rulers can ill afford to ignore. But rulers being politicians will only react if there is a groundswell of public opinion.These articles would have achieved their purpose if they manage to cause just a ripple in the public mindspace and alert them to a minimum wakeful state on the dangers lurking behind the secular veil.
Even the Constitution sanctions religious freedom only subject to morality and public order. It would be puerile to expect morality from them for even a man as exalted as the Pope, a red-carpet guest, stooped down on Indian soil only to sow seeds for a massive harvest of faith! But, with their declared targets being the oppressed classes of which there is no dearth in this country, conversions pose the greatest threat to public order.
The threat of conversion from being an expression of anger has now become a political fad feeding the hungering bigots who linger on the sidelines, salivating for their pound of flesh. Emboldened and engineered by them, there is an orchestrated upheaval with several Dalit leaders developing an itch for conversion even while declaring themselves as atheists. Of course, wooing Dalits has been a game-plan that was drafted with fearsome foresight and implemented with alarming alacrity, with all arms – missionaries, media, marxists and money – working in tandem. But the Tamilnadu bill has forced an unexpected climax, causing jitters as well as a sense of urgency amidst these predators.
Now suddenly, Dalits facing oppression threaten to convert. Dalits facing eviction threaten to convert. Dalits facing poverty threaten to convert. Even those protesting lack of civic amenities threaten to convert! And their anger and eagerness to migrate is more than matched by the zeal of the warriors of the ‘true faith’, the doors of whose barns have never sported the board, ‘No Entry’ or ‘Trespassers prohibited’. It is a grand farm harvested by faithful shepherds where any sheep can graze.
The shepherds for their part have room for all the sheep in the world and more besides special enclosures for washing their sins off. Of course, it is now upto us, children of a lesser god, to inquire whatever happened to the sheep that defected in favour of greener pastures and whether they are all living in blissful egalitarian and economic glory in the promised land. It is also possible that the sheep that jumped fences think the grass now to be greener over here, their original habitat, we do not know.
But we can attempt to find out which we will in right earnest with no secuar inhibitions hindering us. Of course, the articles may suffer from the ill of being emotional, but could there be anything more eloquent than emotions when dealing with something so intensely personal as religion and specially when intruders are knocking at the inner most recesses of your hearts, after having secured secular gate passes or by simply gate crashing?
And again, can one be totally courteous and ooze goodness in deference to the sentiments of the subject while in self-defence mode and that too when such virtues are woefully absent in the tormentors? Rather, it would be unnatural for me to parrot the usual refrain that no offence is meant. So I am not apologising, the communal sinner that I am!
e-mail the writer at [email protected]