[37], Religious conversion to Hinduism has a long history outside India. New trends of Mass Conversion of Christians to Hinduism has emerged in India. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. BBC News. Both these religions liberate them, or at least hold out the promise of unshackling them from the pernicious burden of the caste-system which is so deeply entrenched in Hinduism. your username. the Guardian. In other words, the true purpose of a religion is to ensure that each person reaches his true potential, goes beyond the temptations toward one honest truth - upliftment of himself. [I say] why wait?". We are not committing any sin by bringing back our people to our own religion. When performing a Baptism, Latter Day Saints say the following prayer before performing the ordinance: Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. As per the rule, people who officially change their religion, including minors, have to advertise it in the gazette. In cases of mass conversion of Muslims to Hinduism, the central thrust has been on their de-Islamisation rather than on their accepting the Hindu religion. People who embraced Hinduism constituted 47 per cent of religious conversions in Kerala during the one-year period under reference. This Samiti, a not-so-small wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a militant Hindu organisation, contended that far from propagating religious intolerance, it was only righting historical wrongs and injustice perpetrated by Christian missionaries and Muslim clerics who, in order to bolster the numbers of their respective faiths, had lured and coerced Hindus to stray from their original religion. Journalists like you are the reason for the stupidity in the country. Section 3 Southeast Asia, Religions, "Sikhism (Sikhi) the Sikh Faith and Religion in America", "Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory", "Will Scientology Celebs Sign 'Spiritual' Contract? Missions of the 19th century spread against a background of North Atlantic revivalism with its emotionalism and mass-meeting crowd psychological behaviours. "Conversion" is a very charged word for Hindus. Hinduism is often described as a way of life. "Look we make up 150m people of India. This perceived weakness is what enabled first the Mughals and then the British to impose their rule on the country. (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, General Comment No. India investigates reports of mass 'reconversion' of Christians Up to 100 Christians 'welcomed back' to Hinduism in West Bengal, raising concerns about possible coercion A damaged mural of. In another case, Larissis v. Greece, a member of the Pentecostal church also won a case in the European Court of Human Rights.[68]. There are no rituals or dogmas, nor any sort of procedures in conversion to Spiritism. Modi has been criticised by opposition politicians for remaining silent on the issue of reconversion ceremonies. Compared with the semetic beliefs of Islam and Christianity, Hinduism is perceived by the Parivar as effete and weak because of its internal divisions of caste and regionalism. This table summarizes three Protestant beliefs. With the demonstrated Indian genius of turning all schemes involving money into scams, Coalgate and Spectrumgate might soon yield headlines to Conversiongate. But, the solution a national legislation to ban and criminalise conversions assertively advocated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which commands an absolute majority in parliament, and despite repeated disavowals, remains rooted in essentially a chauvinistic, right-wing Hindu ideology, is far more disconcerting, and if implemented, would deal a grievous blow to the constitutional ideal of secularism. During the election campaign, an age-old discussion over caste discrimination has been rekindled by the threat of losing Dalits to another faith, and that too a public commitment to renouncing Hinduism. NEW DELHI: The political uproar continues over the mass conversion which happened in the national capital on Wednesday. 06/24/2021 India (International Christian Concern) - Using extremely anti-minority rhetoric, a Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader in India on Wednesday tweeted his support for mass 're-conversion' programs pushing Indian Christians and Muslims to convert to Hinduism. This page was last edited on 21 January 2023, at 07:01. [1] In some cases, religious conversion "marks a transformation of religious identity and is symbolized by special rituals".[2]. "The whole world knows that most of the ancestors of India's Christians and Muslims are Hindus," Surendra Jain, the VHP's Joint General-Secretary, said [] His blog takes a contrarian view of topical and timeless issues, political, social, economic and speculative. [18], Baptisms inside and outside the temples are usually done in a baptistry, although they can be performed in any body of water in which the person may be completely immersed. [38][39][40] Some sects of Hindus, particularly of the Bhakti schools began seeking or accepting converts in early to mid 20th century. 22.; emphasis added), Some countries distinguish voluntary, motivated conversion from organized proselytism, attempting to restrict the latter. Like tens of thousands of other untouchables - or dalits - across India today, Mr Cherlaguda will be ritually converted to Buddhism to escape his low-caste status. Messianism may prepare groups for the coming of a Messiah or of a saviour. Log into your account. Persons newly adhering to Buddhism traditionally "Taking Three Refuge" (express faith in the Three Jewels Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha) before a monk, nun, or similar representative, with often the sangha, the community of practitioners, also in ritual attendance. Place Nagpur, Maharashtra, the city where the Headquarter of Rastriya Swayamsewak Sangh is situated. The Parsis, a Zoroastrianism group based in India, classically does not accept converts, but this issue became controversial in the 20th century due to a rapid decline in membership. {{{long}}} Read More Copyright - newindianexpress.com 2023. They even treat tribals as low. In this case, an FIR was lodged by the informant- Himanshu Dixit with the allegations that about 90 persons of Hindu religion . Sukmawati Sukarnoputri, 69, embraced Hinduism in a ritual called 'Sudhi Wadani' . [64][65], On the other end of the proselytising scale are religions that do not accept any converts, or do so very rarely. In Hyderabad the first person to convert will be KRS Murthy, 70, who was the first dalit recruited into the state's civil service in 1959. Officials say an inquiry has been launched into Wednesdays event. Mass conversions of areas and communities to Buddhism occur up to the present day, for example, in the Dalit Buddhist movement in India there have been organized mass conversions . 11/6/01 The historic rally on November 4 in New Delhi featuring a mass conversion of Hindus to Buddhism has taken place, but not in the way that had been planned. The Muslim castes which have been particularly vulnerable to Hindu missionary efforts have been those ", Learn how and when to remove this template message, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan, Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a4.htm, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Monergism, https://archive.today/20220314005237/https://www.whatdomormonsbelieve.com/15/09/2010/the-original-sin/, "Guide to the Scriptures: Baptism, Baptize: Proper authority", "Abraham's Test: Islamic Male Circumcision as Anti/Ante-Covenantal Practice", Symposium Series (Society of Biblical Literature), "Islamic Law and the Issue of Male and Female Circumcision", "So You Want to Convert to Judaism? Falkenberg, Steve. Converting to Islam requires one to declare the shahdah, the Muslim profession of faith ("there is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Christianity grew after becoming the state religion in Armenia, in the Roman Empire, and in Ethiopia. Khusro then a. Often these are relatively small, close-knit minority religions that are ethnically based such as the Yazidis, Druze, and Mandaeans. 241 of the 506 people who reported their change of religion with the government were Christians or Muslims who converted to Hinduism. Gavin Flood, Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Editor: Knut Jacobsen (2010), Volume II, Brill. Instead of going into the genesis of the conversion of poor Hindus, Malhi chose to reply with a political overtone, "And it is happening under the rule of self-proclaimed champions of democracy.". Exceptions to encouraging conversion may occur in some Buddhist movements. 2 Dec 2020 0. The mass conversion was part of a . Sixty years ago BR Ambedkar, the first untouchable to hold high office in India and the man who wrote India's constitution, renounced Hinduism as a creed in the grip of casteism and converted -. Krishna, Manmohan. Islam gained 144 new believers and lost 40 during the period. It's Not That Easy", "Dalai Lama opposed to practice of conversion", Conversion to Tibetan Buddhism: Some Reflections, Handbook of Oriental Studies. All rights reserved. "Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion." Meaningless data. Will the saffron strategy of turning India into a national equivalent of undifferentiable sliced white bread succeed? Of the total 506 people who registered their change of religion with the government, 241 were those who converted from Christianity or Islam to Hinduism. Archived Link: Bhavasar and Kiem, Spirituality and Health, in Hindu Spirituality, Editor: Ewert Cousins (1989). The mass conversions which are being planned are part of a strategy to bring in congregationalism through the back door. Saurav Datta teaches media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai and Pune. There are around 180 million Muslims in India, around 14% of the population of 1.3 billion. Modi has denied any wrongdoing and a supreme court inquiry has found insufficient evidence to support the charges. https://www.whatdomormonsbelieve.com/15/09/2010/the-original-sin/ The issue of mass conversions has paralyzed India's parliament, with opposition lawmakers demanding Modi make a statement on earlier reports of poor Muslims being coerced into Hinduism. Obamas words on Tuesday on the rights of religious minorities in the predominantly Hindu country came after three days of carefully choreographed demonstrations of warm relations between the US president and Modi. Mansar Baskey, one of the reconverted, described to the newspaper how he had become a Christian a year ago with his wife, son and father. "My mother died of her injuries. Look at the net impact not the gross. Perhaps not. Basing its ruling on a 1956 report entitled Report of the Christian Missionaries Activity Enquiry Commission, which deemed proselytisation as a threat to Indias territorial integrity and internal security, the court ended up conflating every act of propagation of ones faith Christianity, in this case (enshrined as a fundamental right in the constitution) as an attack on Hinduism and its followers, tantamount to blasphemy, which, incidentally, is also a criminal offence in India. Christianity lost 242 believers to the other two religions and attracted only 119 persons. BJP divide people on religion wise for vote. Now media also started putting venom into public mind? which appears on Wednesdays. Changing religion makes us visible," says Chanrabhan Prasad, a dalit writer. Welcome! As an untouchable, the 25-year-old is at the bottom of Hinduism's hereditary hierarchy. Digvijaya Singh, of the ousted Congress party, thanked Obama on Twitter for speaking up for the Indian citizens rights to profess practice and propagate his religious belief. The Muslim castes which have been particularly vulnerable to Hindu missionary efforts have been those which are only nominally Muslim and retain many Hindu customs and beliefs. The recent mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism in Gujarat's Una district, which included the Dalits who were brutally assaulted by cow vigilantes for allegedly skinning dead cattle, has. The move has been decried not only by secularists who argue that the only book which could have national status is the Constitution but also by those who subscribe to the view that Hinduism has always been an eclectic agglomeration of smaller traditions rather than a monolithic structure that can be represented by a single text, no matter how seminal it might claim to be. He ran away after being tied up with his mother and clubbed for a night by an upper caste neighbour for allowing his goat to wander. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service, {{{add_comment_link}}} Published: 02nd April 2021 04:33 AM| First, there has been increasing campaign against Muslims as a result of which these. 978--8122-9600-6 Peace & Conflict Studies, Sociology, Religion When I tell them my caste they stop asking questions. Despite this UN-declared human right, some groups forbid or restrict religious conversion (see below). Going way beyond, they endow the government with surveillance powers over a constituency of people. ", "Zoroastrianism needs to adapt its archaic laws or die | Ariane Sherine", "Joining a Cult: Religious Choice or Psychological Aberration? [citation needed], Greece has a long history of conflict, mostly with Jehovah's Witnesses, but also with some Pentecostals, over its laws on proselytism. At the end of the 12th century, Jayavarman VII set the stage for conversion of the Khmer people to Theravada Buddhism. 2014-12-30. That individual proselytisation, let alone mass conversion, has no place in the live-and-let-live ethos of the Hindu faith is blithely ignored by these saffron crusaders, who have mounted a concerted campaign to semitise Hinduism and turn it into a religious ideology based, in the manner of Islam and Christianity, on the concept of One book, one congregation, one people. {{/more}}. Of India kept sleeping or had their mock permission. One might well question in face of such provisions, do the laws even need to use the modifiers forcible or fraudulent? Mr Murthy says he long ago dropped his caste name - Kondru - but this has not stop people sensing for signals to his origins. Answer: "God is the Supreme Intelligence-First Cause of all things."[28]. ", "Justice and reforms after airmen were given criminal convictions for their religious activities". Conversion is illegal if there is any element of compulsion or bribery. What many in the media and outside the fold of Hinduism fail to acknowledge is that mass conversion of people is a very unpleasant practice, which generates a lot of disharmony, insecurity, hatred, and communal tensions in a multi religious and diverse nation like India. 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This UN-declared Human right, some countries distinguish voluntary, motivated conversion from organized proselytism, to! Swayamsewak Sangh is situated an FIR was lodged by the informant- Himanshu Dixit with the allegations that about persons. Was last edited on 21 January 2023, at 07:01 of such provisions, do the laws even need use... Persons of Hindu religion. officially change their religion, including minors, have to advertise it the! Or Muslims who converted to Hinduism has a long history outside India one might well in... Roman Empire, and in Ethiopia of religion with the demonstrated Indian genius of turning into... Teaches media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai and Pune around 180 million Muslims in....
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