Goa polls ahead, MP Tejasvi Surya ‘withdraws’ call to bring Muslims, Christians back to Hinduism

On Monday, Surya, the MP from Bengaluru South, tweeted, “At a program held in Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt two days ago, I spoke on the subject of ‘Hindu Revival in Bharat’. Certain statements from my speech have regrettably created an avoidable controversy. I therefore unconditionally withdraw the statements.”

#WATCH Only option left for Hindus is to reconvert all those people who’ve gone out of the Hindu fold…those who’ve left their mother religion must be brought back.. My request is that every temple,mutt should’ve yearly targets for this:BJP MP Tejasvi Surya at an event on 25 Dec pic.twitter.com/8drw0lfKAh

— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2021

Sources said Surya, who is considered close to the central BJP leadership, was told to issue the statement in light of the coming Goa elections, where Christians form a sizeable chunk of the population. It is the first time perhaps that the MP, often accused of incendiary statements, has issued such a clarification.

At the Mutt programme, Surya had said: “There are people who belonged to Hinduism but were converted to Islam or Christianity. It is our duty to bring these people back into the fold of Hinduism. Also, Hindus in Pakistan who were converted to Islam should be brought back into the fold.”

Calling Hindu religion “tolerant, scientific, progressive and forward-looking”, he added, “All the mutts and temples should have annual targets to bring back people to Hindu religion. For instance, there were people who had to undergo religious conversion because of Tipu Sultan… It is important to bring these people back to the fold of Hinduism. That is the only way a renaissance can happen.”

The BJP had finished behind the Congress in the last Assembly elections in Goa but managed to form the government. This time, apart from the Congress, the BJP is facing a resurgent AAP and the newbie Trinamool Congress.

Earlier this year, Surya had embarrassed the BJP by saying before the Tamil Nadu elections that the BJP wanted to end ‘Periyarism’ (all the main political parties in Tamil Nadu, including BJP ally AIADMK, swear by Periyar, who advocated atheism).

During the anti-CAA protests, Surya had courted controversy saying that only the “uneducated, illiterate, and puncture-wallahs (people who work in garage and tyre repair shops)” were protesting against the Act.

Karnataka has become the latest BJP-ruled state to bring in an anti-conversion Bill – officially called the Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021. Prohibiting conversion from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement or marriage, it advocates one of the strictest punishments for anyone doing this.