When the demolition of the Babri Masjid was
threatened in 1991, Parliament en acted a law prohibiting the conversion
of any place of worship of one religion into that of another, the only
exception being the Babri Masjid itself. Back then, the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad sought to demolish 3,000 mosques, claiming these were once
temples.This threatened 3,000 more clashes of the Babri Masjid variety,
stoking communal carnage and destroying Indian secularism. The Masjid
was ultimately demolished, but the new law helped prevent the disease
spreading to other places of worship.
The problem has returned in unexpected fashion in Aligarh. It must be tackled before it can grow.
In Aligarh, several dalits were once converted to Christianity by the
Seventh Day Adventists. That organization then built a church for its
new converts. However, 72 of these dalit Christians have been
re-converted to Hinduism by the Dharam Jagran Vibhag (DJV), an RSS
branch aiming to stop conversions of Hindus to other religions, and
attempt re-conversion.
The DJV organized a “shuddhikaran” (cleansing ceremony) to wash away
the Christian “taint” in Aligarh. A Shiv poster was put up in the
church, but later removed. The alarmed Seventh Day Adventists locked up
the church.
The danger is that the DJV and re-converts will seize the church and
put up a temple there. “We have found a place near the chabootra
(verandah). That is where we will set up the temple. I don’t have
anything to say for the church. We have done the shuddhikaran in the
building, whether they want to uproot the church or raze it to the
ground is their headache. We will not let another church come up because
there is no Christian left,” said DJV pramukh Rajeshwar Singh, who came
from Uttarakhand for the re-conversion.
Khem Chandra, a local member of the DJV, added, “We will think about
the church building. It belongs to the missionaries, but the ground on
which it stands belongs to Hindustan. We will not compromise on our
dharti (earth). We will meet the villagers and decide about the temple
(coming up).”
Now, our Constitution and laws clearly permit the conversion and
re-conversion of individuals from and to any religion. The use of
financial and other inducements for conversion is illegal, but voluntary
conversion is permitted freely. The Seventh Day Adventists and the DJV
both have a right to convert people to their respective faiths. The RSS
claims that foreign Christian money is being used to “buy” converts to
Christianity. This has certainly happened in some countries, leading to
the derisive term “rice Christians”. But the Christians point out that
overseas Hindus pour enormous sums into Indian religious organizations.
Besides, Indian temples and organizations have humungous wealth. If
indeed faith can be bought, Hindu organizations have a distinct
financial advantage in India, and can easily outbid Christian ones.
But this is just a distraction. Financial inducements for conversions are illegal. Only voluntary conversions are legal.
What is clearly illegal, however, is the destruction of a place of
worship, or its conversion into a place of worship for another sect or
religion. The 72 dalits in Aligarh can follow any religion they want,
but cannot claim ownership of the church, which belongs to the Seventh
Day Adventists.The mere fact that the 72 dalits worshipped in that
church does not make it their personal property, to be disposed of as
they like. They can build a temple on any other land, close or far from
the church. But they cannot claim, as DJV leader Khem Chandra has done,
that the church building may belong to the Christians, but the ground
underneath belongs to Hindustan.
Hindustan does not mean the exclusive land of religious Hindus.
Historically, Hindustan simply meant the land of the people of the Indus
valley. The Constitution is very clear that India is a land of multiple
religions where persons of all faiths are equal, and none can be
discriminated against.
Let us hope good sense will prevail. There has been no violence so
far, and the Seventh Day Adventists clearly want to avoid any clash. But
their fear is palpable, and they wonder if threats to other churches
will follow.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for communal
peace. He should follow up by formally declaring that a place of
worship cannot change hands merely because local worshippers have
converted. The UP Government should re-iterate that this is what the law
says.But if all major parties remain silent, it can only encourage
those wishing to take the law into their hands. This tumour must be cut
out before it becomes a malignant cancer.
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