Insight - 'Love Jihad' and religious conversion

polarise in Modi's India

1 OF 2. A man climbs down after partially chipping out the cross from the entrance of his house, after taking part in a religion conversion
ceremony from hristianity to !induism, at !asayan town in "ttar More###
2 OF 2. $eople take part in a religion conversion ceremony from hristianity to
!induism at !asayan town in "ttar $radesh August %&, %'()#
BY RUPAM JAIN NAIR AND FRANK JACK DANIEL-Fri
Sep 5, 2014
*+euters, - -ired up and full of vitriol, !indu activist +a.eshwar /ingh is on a mission
to end centuries of religious diversity in India, one conversion at a time#
!is voice echoing off the walls of a $rotestant church across a narrow street, /ingh
railed against foreign faiths at an event last week to convert a hristian family to
!induism in the rural town of !asayan, ()' km south of 0elhi#
12e will cleanse our !indu society# 2e will not let the conspiracy of church or mos3ue
succeed in 4harat *India,,1 he said, standing in the family's front yard by a ritual fire lit
to purify the poor, lower-caste converts#
5mboldened by $rime Minister 6arendra Modi's rise to power in May, leaders of his
!indu nationalist 4haratiya Janata $arty *4J$, have .oined right-wing activists like
/ingh to openly declare India a nation of !indus, posing a challenge to its multi-faith
constitutional commitment#
About a fifth of India's (#%7 billion people identify themselves as belonging to faiths
other than !induism#
/ingh is affiliated to the +ashtriya /wayamsevak /angh *+//,, a vast nationalist
volunteer organisation that aims to unify !indus 1to carry the nation to the pinnacle of
glory1#
8he +// brought Modi into politics as a young man and its foot soldiers helped cement
his May election victory in India's heartland, most notably in the country's most
populous state of "ttar $radesh, where !asayan is located#
8he +// has grown in prominence since the general election, with members appointed
to key cabinet posts and senior leaders deputed to the party#
Increasingly hardline statements by +// chief Mohan 4hagwat, an old friend of Modi,
have helped motivate millions of volunteers, like /ingh, already e9cited by the prime
minister's May victory#
1Just as those who stay in 5ngland are 5nglish, those who stay in :ermany are
:erman, and those in "#/# are Americans, all those who stay in !industan are
!indus,1 4hagwat said in August, angering Muslim and hristian minorities#
8he debate triggered by the comments revealed a deep ideological rift between those
who believe the term describes a national identity as well as a religion, and liberals
who think in a multi-faith nation, all cannot be called !indus#
1L;<5 JI!A01
Adding to the controversy, +//-linked groups have stepped up a campaign against
1Love Jihad1 - a term for what they consider to be an Islamist strategy to convert
!indu women through seduction, marriage and money#
8heir fears about Islam may be fuelled by al =aeda leader Ayman al->awahri's
announcement this week of the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group#
$revious police investigations have found no evidence of an organised 1Love Jihad1#
4ut the concept has gained credence across central India in recent weeks, leading to
sometimes- violent protests, despite being considered an absurd conspiracy theory by
mainstream, moderate Indians#
2hile avoiding the term 1Love Jihad1, Modi's 4J$ last week adopted the sub.ect of
forced conversions as a campaign issue ahead of /ept# (? by-elections in "ttar $radesh,
a state prone to sectarian strife#
/imultaneously, activists like /ingh have stepped up what they see as necessary
defensive measures - converting others 1back1 to !induism# !induism is not normally
considered a religion that seeks converts, but it does not have strict rules against the
practice#
18he !indu wave has .ust begun# In (' years we will convert all hristians and
Muslims,1 shaven-headed /ingh said with a grin after -riday's conversion ceremony, to
murmurs of approval from other organisers of the ritual#
!is colleagues included a former Adventist preacher now dedicated to !indu
1homecoming1 conversions and a businessman from the city of Agra, home to the
world-famous 8a. Mahal#
18he 4J$ is our political organisation# 8hey are our brothers# 2e have ensured that
they won the election# Modi is a !indu leader,1 /ingh said# 18his is our golden age#1
/8+I-5
/ingh's ('-year deadline is unrealistic in a country of (7@ million Muslims, who
account for around (@ percent of Indians and constitute the third-largest Muslim
population in the world, as well as other faiths#
4ut such displays of bravado are worrying moderates in a country whose long history
of inter-religious co-e9istence is punctuated by bloody outbreaks of strife#
Last year !indu-Muslim riots left A@ dead .ust %)' km from !asayan# 8ensions are
still high across "ttar $radesh, which is governed by a party many consider to unduly
favour Muslims#
In %''%, riots also broke out in Modi's home state of :u.arat, .ust after he was elected
chief minister there# More than (,''' died, mostly Muslims# ritics say he did too little
to stop the violence, but a /upreme ourt investigation found no evidence to prosecute
him and he denies any wrongdoing#
0uring this year's general election in India, in which Modi elsewhere focused on
development, his campaign in "ttar $radesh stood out by e9ploiting anti-minority
feeling to unite low- and high-caste !indus into a voting bloc#
"day <ir from a 10alit1 low caste was at the centre of the reconversion ceremony last
week, conducted by high-caste !indus#
4orn into a hristian family, <ir, @@, said a land dispute with the church was the
reason he was switching religion, before chipping off a black stucco cross from his
porch with a hammer#
8ensions such actions trigger were clearly visible on the !asayan side street# As
tempers frayed briefly under the midday sun, a burly !indu activist accused a
hristian priest of luring people to convert with money and of keeping women and
children locked inside the church's faded red walls#
18hey are lying# I am not here to convert anyone# My .ob is to manage the church,1 said
+everend 0inesh Bumar as a doCen policemen struggled to control the swelling crowd#
Ahead of the by-elections this month, a prominent 4J$ member of parliament from
the state, Dogi Adityanath, has been accused of delivering inflammatory speeches#
In one video he asks supporters to convert ('' Muslim women through marriage every
time a Muslim man marries a !indu# In another, he said religious riots happen
wherever more than (' percent of the population is Muslim#
Adityanath, also a senior !indu priest, has not been reined in by his party and,
instead, features as a star campaigner in the by-election race# !e says the footage was
doctored#
6; 5<I0565 ;- ;6/$I+AD
5arlier this month a national-level rifle shooter 8ara /hahdeo complained of being a
1Love Jihad1 victim, saying her Muslim husband hid his religion when they married in
+anchi#
In response, hardline !indu outfits rampaged through the town and declared a day-
long strike# ;ther violent protests have broken out in recent days close to 6ew 0elhi#
A pamphlet named 1Love Jihad1 is being widely circulated by members of +// at
!indu weddings, festivals and outside colleges across the country#
2ritten in %'((, it links the concept of 1Love Jihad1 to the rule of Muslim Mughals in
India centuries ago - a popular theme with !indu nationalists who feel !induism was
weakened by foreign rule#
$olice say sporadic cases of trickery by unscrupulous men are not evidence of a
broader conspiracy# In "ttar $radesh, police found no evidence of attempted or forced
conversion in five of si9 reported 1Love Jihad1 cases in the past three months#
1In most cases we found that a !indu girl and Muslim boy were in love and had
married against their parents' will,1 state police chief A#L# 4aner.ee told +euters#
18hese are cases of love marriages and not Love Jihad#1
*Additional reporting by Jitendra 0ash in 4hubaneswar and /harat $radhan in
LucknowE 5diting by Mike ollett-2hite,
$osted by 8havam