Social media on 26th January 2021 flashed videos of the members of Hindu right wing groups smashing photo frames and shouting Jai Sree Ram slogans inside the building of Sat Prakashan Communication Centre Indore. In one of the videos a police officer makes an accusation before the media of religious conversion to Christianity. The vandals entered the building without any permission and indulged in violence and made provocative slogans. The police did not file any case against the transgressors of law, but arrested a Protestant pastor, who was leading a prayer session, under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act and put him behind the bars. 

On 28th January, the newspapers reported that a woman filed a case against her parents for bringing her forcefully to the prayer gathering at Sat Prakashan for religious conversion. Nine people along with the parents of the woman were arrested by the police under the M P Freedom of Religion Act. 

According to the information collected from Sat Prakashan, the institution used to give permission to Protestant groups to conduct prayer meetings in its hall. As usual, one group was allowed to conduct prayer on 26th January, 2021. The prayer group used a powerful sound system as per the accusation made by the Hindu right wing group. Members of a Sangh Parivar Organization were conducting a meeting in a school behind the Sat Prakashan building. They say that they were disturbed by the loud noise coming from the prayer hall. Some of them came to check what was happening. When they saw a crowd of people in the hall praying, they presumed that it was an attempt of conversion. They called more number of their group members and started vandalism and slogan shouting. 

The management of Sat Prakashan informed the police. When the police reached the place the right wing groups complained to the police that it was an attempt at religious conversion. Without making any further enquiry the police filed a case against the Protestant pastor on the basis of the complaint made by the Hindutva groups and he was taken into custody. It was told that the management of the Satprakashan did not file any case against the hooligans for transgression and smashing of photo frames, fearing further backlash from the Hindutva groups.  

This is not the first time that the Hindutva organizations are unleashing violence on the Christians. The Kandhamal riot was the major violence against the Christians planned and executed under the leadership of the Hindutva groups. During this violence more than 395 churches were vandalized or burnt down, over 5,600 houses plundered or burnt down, over 600 villages ransacked, more than 60,000 people left homeless, 40 women were sexually assaulted and nearly 100 died (Wikipedia). As of 2020, US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) placed India as Tier-1 in minority persecution along with countries like China, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Other Significant Events on the Republic Day, Jan. 26, 2021 

According to a report published in Hindu online newspaper on January 26, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha observed January 26, Republic Day, as “black day” and took an oath to make India a Hindu Rashtra. Pandit Ashok Sharma, National Vice President of the Hindutva body said on the occasion, “The purpose of my life and that of millions of people like me, who are present in this country, is to make this country a Hindu Rashtra. Nobody can stop this country from becoming a Hindu Rashtra”. As per the news report no action has been taken on the people who observed Republic Day as ‘black day’, even though January 26th is a sacred day for all Indians. 

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, had rejected the Indian Constitution when it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly. It wanted to put in place a constitution based on Manusmriti that envisages a caste based hierarchical and mail dominated patriarchal society. Manusmriti is diametrically opposed to the values of the Indian constitution. 

During the official Republic Day parade in Delhi the tableau of Uttar Pradesh state exhibited a replica of the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya. The Hindutva organizations have started collecting funds for the construction of Ram Temple throughout the country. It is pertinent to recall that the Prime Minister of a ‘secular India’ laid the foundation of Ram temple in the presence of UP Chief Minister and UP Governor. 

Lessons to be learned 

1. The Hindutva Rashtra as envisaged by the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS has already arrived without replacing the present constitution with a new one. A series of policies and laws adopted by the BJP government under the leadership of Narendra Modi has already transformed India into a Hindu Rashtra. What was unfolded on January 26, 2021 is the result of the transformation that has already taken place in India. 

2. The Hindutva groups can enter into any Christian prayer gathering where non-Christians are present and indulge in violence on the pretext of religious conversion. The police in all probability may not take any action against them, but only support them because of two reasons. First of all, the police in many states of India are already saffronzied and biased against Christians and Muslims. Secondly, the police are afraid of taking any action against the Hindutva groups.

3. Those persons and priests, who conduct religious ceremonies, rituals or prayers in which Hindus are present, can be accused of religious conversion and cases can be filed against them and they could be put behind the bars. 

4. Even the awareness generation sessions conducted for the poor, especially dalits and tribals, could be interpreted as efforts of religious conversion and cases can be filed against the organizers of these programmes. 

5. Jesus has told his disciples to be cunning as serpents and innocent as doves. The recent invitation to the three cardinals of Indian Church by the Prime Minister for dialogue appears to be eyewash. The P M and the BJP want to impress upon the Christians that their party is ready to solve all problems of the Christian community. As per the news reports in the media, the real intention seems to influence the Christian community in Kerala in view of the forthcoming election to the state assembly. The leaders are to be alert so that they may not fall into the traps laid by the RSS- BJP combine. 

How to Respond to Hindutva Forces?

1.    Christians, especially the bishops, priests and religious, have to build good public relations with the local people and the officers and win over their good will, if not overt support, and be transparent in all their activities. They should never give the impression that they have a hidden agenda of religious conversion. 

2.    Avoid as far as possible inviting non-Christians, especially poor people, to totally Christian prayers and rituals.  For common functions in which people of different faiths participate, adopt inter-religious prayer with readings from different scriptures. 

3.    Stop the practice of taking non-Christian children of boarding houses/hostels for Mass, rosary and other Christian prayers. This can be interpreted as an attempt for religious conversion and cases can be filed against the in charge of the boarding houses. Moreover, many children, especially boys, can become reactionaries later. Adopt inter-religious prayer with readings from different scriptures in the boarding houses/hostels with children from different faiths. Christians don’t approve of their children being taken to purely Hindu rituals and prayers. Hence follow the teaching of Jesus: “Do for others what you want them to do for you.” (Mt. 7:12)

4.    Conducting Christian prayer services, healing prayer sessions and Bhajan mandalis for the poor in the villages can be easily branded as conversion tactics and cases can be filed against those persons who organize such programmes. 

5.    The most appropriate and effective form of evangelization in today’s highly polarized situation is living the values of Jesus and becoming role models of Christian living so that people of other faiths would be able to say, “See, how they love each other”. 

6.    Make the staff members and workers of Christian institutions partners by adopting a participatory, inclusive and transparent style of administration/management. 

7.    Honesty and integrity should be the topmost priority and the hallmark of all Bishops, priests, religious and lay persons. In the absence of honesty and integrity any number of prayers and devotions and preaching will be of no use. The commandment of Jesus to his followers is to make disciples by imparting the values and teachings of Jesus. One can become a disciple of Jesus without changing his religion. 

8.    Today most of the students of Christian educational institutions in Central and North India are brainwashed with Hindutva ideology. Social media and the parents of the students play a key role in this process of brainwashing. That is why when the right wing Hindutva groups attack the Christian institutions neither the parents nor the students are coming forward to support the management or to speak for the management openly.  Hence there is an urgent need for inculcating Indian constitutional values in these students. All of them can be made the disciples of Jesus by imparting to them the core values of Jesus without changing their religion. The failure of the missionaries to impart to the students the Indian constitutional values along with lack of cultural and religious sensitivity seems to be one of the reasons for the surge of Hindutva among the middle class. Instead of multiplying educational institutions dioceses and religious congregations have to concentrate on the effectiveness of education mission by allotting more priests and religious to teach in the schools and to influence the students, parents and teachers. 

India is already a Hindu Rashtra, said the BJP MP Subramanian Swami while addressing ThinkEdu Conclave in Chennai on 9th January 2020. Preserving the pluralistic character of India and its constitution is essential for the progress and development of India and all Indians. The religious polarization that is taking place in India and subversion of the constitutional values are against the vision of India enshrined in the preamble of Indian constitution. Christians along with people of all other faiths have to work hard to preserve the pluralistic heritage of India and its secular constitution.