Less than five weeks after a senior RSS functionary found himself at the centre of a firestorm over remarks targeting Christians in the Khasi Hills, facing a police complaint, burning effigies and calls for apology even from within his own party, the RSS General Secretary was in Shillong on Saturday, March 21, to deliver a message of interfaith brotherhood to an audience that included Christian clergy.
Dattatreya Hosabale, speaking at two gatherings organised as part of the RSS centenary celebrations at the Courtyard by Marriott, told participants that the organisation has no interest in making all Indians Hindu. “Our motto is to come together, think together, and work together,” he said. A karyakarta, he added, is anyone who serves the nation without expectation of return, irrespective of which faith they follow.
Priests from the Sacred Heart Church in Mawlai were among those present. One of them observed that by the RSS’s own definition of selfless service, his 52 years of social work would make him a swayamsevak. Hosabale agreed. He spoke of the Christian community’s contributions to the Khasi Hills over nearly two centuries in education, healthcare and public life.
What Happened at Pynter
The goodwill on display on Saturday was being measured against a specific and recent event.
On February 16, Sunil Deodhar, a senior RSS functionary and BJP leader, addressed an Indigenous Faith Conference at Pynter village in the Pynursla Sub-Division of East Khasi Hills. A video of the speech circulated widely on social media. What followed was an unusual situation: the BJP’s own Meghalaya unit wrote to Deodhar demanding a retraction and public apology, with state general secretary Wankitbok Pohshna saying the speech had caused “deep anguish and disbelief” among Christians, contained what were perceived as contemptuous references to the Bible, and described Jesus Christ as a “Dkhar,” a term meaning outsider or non-Khasi.
The National People’s Party condemned the speech as divisive, with party spokesperson HM Shangpliang saying the comments were factually wrong and designed to drive a wedge between communities. The NCP went further, filing a police complaint against Deodhar at Sadar Police Station, alleging he had told the audience that churches coerced members through conditions tied to attendance and conversion. The Hynniewtrep Youth Council held a protest outside the state BJP office, burning an effigy of Deodhar.
Several civil society groups alleged that Deodhar had crossed into hate speech. Even some members of the Seng Khasi, the indigenous faith community his speech was ostensibly meant to champion, found the remarks divisive.
Facing the pressure, Deodhar wrote a letter saying he respected Jesus Christ and the Christian community and had not intended his words as an attack on any religion. He is not a peripheral figure in the state. He recently inaugurated an institution in Mawkyrnot whose stated purpose is to work against religious conversions in Meghalaya.
What Hosabale Did Not Say
When participants at Saturday’s meeting raised the Pynter controversy, Hosabale said he regretted that sentiments had been hurt and that such remarks were not in keeping with RSS principles. He did not name Deodhar. He did not address the police complaint. He issued no formal condemnation.
Asked about reported violence and discrimination against Christians elsewhere in the country by groups affiliated with the RSS, including the VHP, ABVP and Bajrang Dal, Hosabale said that individuals within any large organisation sometimes act beyond its stated values. He did not speak to any particular incident.
Himanshu of the Church of North India asked directly why the RSS had maintained silence on attacks against Christians across India. Hosabale said more dialogue was needed. He did not answer the question.
On Ghar Wapsi reconversions in Meghalaya, he said nothing at all.
What the Numbers Show
A 2024 book by journalist Abhijit Majumdar, “India’s New Right: Powering the Current Wave of Nationalism and Civilisational Revival,” quoted RSS functionaries in Meghalaya as saying the pace of reconversions of Christians to indigenous Hindu faiths in the Khasi Hills had risen from roughly 60 families a year to more than 500 over five years. The RSS works in Meghalaya through a web of affiliated organisations including Seva Bharati, Seemanta Chetna Manch, the VHP and Purva Sainik Parishad, across the Garo, Jaintia and Khasi Hills.
An RSS activist in Pynursla described the method to Majumdar this way: “We do not force anyone into reconverting or deceive them into returning to their original religion. We observe, maintain contact, and closely monitor their daily lives. When they face difficulties and the church is unable to assist, they reach out to the indigenous priest-doctor.” From that point, the activist said, “their journey back to their roots, their 1000-year-old faith, begins.”
The Centenary Address
In his formal remarks, Hosabale spoke of the RSS’s growth from a single unit in Nagpur in 1925 to close to 85,000 daily shakhas across India today. He outlined a five-part agenda he called Panch Parivartan, built around social cohesion across caste and community lines, a sense of national identity, family values, environmental awareness and civic responsibility. Dharma, he said, meant ethical conduct rather than religious observance.
He said national progress rests on collective responsibility and individual character, and that the centenary year carries one central message: “The country gives us everything, we should also learn to give back.”
The meetings were attended by former state BJP president Ernest Mawrie, scholars, community leaders and local RSS office-bearers.
A Question From Outside the Room
Allen Brooks, spokesperson of the Assam Christian Forum, which represents Christian denominations across Assam, responded to the Shillong meetings with a question.
“As reported, it seems many church leaders from different denominations attended the programme,” Brooks said. “It will be interesting to know in what capacity they attended the meet and what was their contribution to the entire discussion.”
The accounts of the day record what Hosabale said. What the clergy said, what positions they took, and what they demanded or declined to demand, remains unrecorded.
