After law, Himachal Sangh Parivar on reconversion drive

In the four months since the Himachal Pradesh Government banned 8220;forced conversions8221;, the All-India Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes Mahasangh has gone all out on a 8220;reconversion8221; drive.

In the four months since the Himachal Pradesh Government banned 8220;forced conversions8221;, the All-India Scheduled Castes 038; Scheduled Tribes Mahasangh has gone all out on a 8220;reconversion8221; drive.

On Sunday, 51 families were 8220;reconverted8221; from Christianity at a Ghar Vapsi programme in Solan, similar to those organised by BJP MP Dilip Singh Judeo in the tribal state of Chhattisgarh. Earlier, two such functions had been held in Shimla and Nahan. Tarseen Bharti, a BJP leader heading the Himachal unit of the Mahasangh, says some 85 people who converted to Christianity during the reign of the previous BJP government, had voluntarily returned to Hinduism. Most of the converts, he says, were Dalits or poor who were promised jobs, free treatment, or other benefits.

Said Himachal BJP chief Jairam Thakur, 8220;We are not involved in the Ghar Vapsi campaign, which is mainly backed by the VHP and the Sangh Parivar. It8217;s not a political agenda, even though we believe large-scale conversions had taken place in the interiors.8221; The BJP is keeping itself away from the 8220;reconversion8221; drive.

The conversion issue had been on the BJP agenda for quite some time, but it did not enact a law on the issue when it was in government. But Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of the Congress did so, apparently with the aim of hijacking an emotive issue before the upcoming Assembly elections.

Christian organisations are already up in arms against the ban and have sent a memorandum to Congress President Sonia Gandhi that she should intervene and get Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to scrap the law.

The Chief Minister looks at the issue differently. He said, 8220;I have said it earlier, and am saying it again: we haven8217;t banned conversion, only prescribed a procedure for conversion. Some sections had expressed apprehensions about religious tensions, so we enacted the law. I don8217;t know why a particular section is upset and is trying to question my secular credentials.8221;

Sources close to Virbhadra Singh confirm that he was questioned by the party high command on having taken the 8220;hasty step8221; of enacting the law, but refuses to go back on the issue.

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Said Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Viplove Thakur, 8220;It would have been better if the issue was discussed in the party before passing the law. For now, we are backing the chief minister.8221;

Of the 64 lakh people in the state, not more than 10,000 are Christians, according to official figures. In the past two-three years the number of Christians has increased by about 2,000, and the Home Department, responsible for drawing up the bill banning conversion, says there was no problem of conversions as such.

But organisations such as the RSS dispute this: they claim the number of Christians has more than doubled since 1990. Principal Secretary S Vijay Kumar calls the controversy a political issue and says the law is only a 8220;measure of abundant precaution to maintain public confidence, mutual trust, and peaceful atmosphere. It is not against any community, minority, or section8221;.

With inputs from Arvind Kashyap in Solan