Conversions to Christianity, greatest danger to society, says BJP President

Jashpur, Chhattisgarh – India’s largest political party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, Rajnath Singh has dared Christian missionaries to “try converting any Hindu” and all together has launched a new violent attack against the Christian community.

During his Bharat Suraksha Yatra, the BJP president, in the central–eastern state of Chhattisgarh, in the domain of Dilip Singh Judeo, who spearheads the Sangh Parivar’s “Ghar Vapsi” (reconversion) programme among Adivasis, addressing an electoral committee in Jashpur, the politician turned unusually aggressive and said, “Christian missionaries convert people in the name of their social service. But there can be no crueler joke than using money or service to deceive the poor.”

He continued, “Conversions comprise the greatest danger to our society: we cannot allow the demographics profile of the country to be changed. We will not let Hindus become a minority, as somebody has said they would be by 2060. As long as the BJP is on the political scene, it will fight such attempts tooth and nail.”

Referring to Rajasthan Government’s fresh law cracking down on conversions, Singh pointed out, “As soon as I became chairman of the party, I asked all leaders to ensure anti–conversion laws were adopted in all our states, to destroy the plans of Christian missionaries. The government of Jharkhand is ready with a resolution for such a law and I invite Raman Singh, prime minister of Chattisgarh, to follow the same path.”

Be it Dharamjaigarh, Pathalgaon, Kasabel, Kunkuri or Jashpur Singh had a single theme: “Those who are converting Hindus, take heed. There is no mercy of you.”

Rajnath’s choice of Jashpur to take on Christian missionaries has a strategic significance. The area has the biggest church in Chhattsigarh – at Kunkuri – and has a sizeable Christian population. Not surprisingly, the Parivar has boosted its activity in the area. The countryside is dotted by Saraswati Shishu Mandirs, meant to counter missionary schools. VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia also conducted a “trishool diksha” programme at Kasabel.

AsiaNews quoted Fr. Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India as saying: “The tirade of abuses against missionaries by Singh was not totally unexpected, given his tendency to mix with ultra organizations. Ironically, it is supposed that he is said to be on Bharat Suraksha Yatra [a Hindu national prayer for harmony, lasting three days], and so he is supposed to spread a message of national unity and security.

“More than anybody else, Rajnath Singh should know what is happening on the security front of this country. It is not the declining number of Christians that really poses a danger, but the unruly elements nursed by his people who are wreaking national destruction. It is easier to heap abuses to a defenseless community for all the ills of the country.

“In this way, Rajnath is not showing signs of valour or of patriotism, but his own personal hatred towards a section of Indian society.”