"Conversions have really increased after Sonia became Cong president"

Who is behind the attacks on Christians in the Dangs district of Gujarat?

It is not an isolated incident. It is the pent-up anger of the local people against forced conversions by the Christian missionaries, who deliberately provoked the locals. They desecrated a Hanuman temple in Rajkot in August. They forcibly occupied a school building in Baroda and when the school administration won the court case after 14 years and went to take possession of the building,they were attacked. Eight persons were injured and 10 shops burnt. Similarly, missionaries running a girls school in Surat asked the students to sign a pledge saying, “We all are sinners. Only Christ is our saviour”. Of course the pledge was withdrawn after the locals protested. See how they provoke people, attack themselves and then cry foul. Even in the Dangs, a peaceful procession of the Hindu Jagran Manch was attacked by the Christians.

The media has grossly misrepresented the facts. The television pictures of gutted thatched houses — supposed to be churches — were fake. They were shot elsewhere. No church was burnt in the Dangs. Even the Gujarat administration has claimed that the media has blown the incident out of proportion.

The Manch is neither a constituent of the VHP nor is it a sister organisation. We defend the Manchbecause we feel it is being wrongly maligned.

See, all these organisations have their own constitution and their own office-bearers. We do share our ideology but nothing else.

They have been offering all kind of allurements — from marriage, money to land — to convert the innocent tribals. In Dangs, people were attacked because they were protesting against conversions.

Why not? There are many. You just have to go there and talk to the local people about how the missionaries operate. I can quote from page 471 of the annual budget of the Federation of Evangelical Church of India, earmarking Rs 2.6 lakh specifically for conversion of 700 people. Similarly, Page 476 of Friends of Missionaries Prayer Band annual budget shows thatRs 1.45 crore had been spent on conversion of 3,400 persons. Do you know where this money comes from? From western countries, mostly from the USA, that do not like the BJP Government in India to continue. The conversions have grown manifold ever since Sonia Gandhi became president of the Congress.

We do not offer any incentives because we don’t have any money. At least nothing compared to the funds procured by the missionaries from abroad. Then, we reconvert only first-generation converts.

The Government doesn’t allow the VHP to bring in funds from abroad whereas it allows the missionaries to do it. Can’t you see a discrimination there itself? Then they are free to teach anything, even their religious scriptures. And there is a big hungama if we decide to sing Vande Mataram or SaraswatiVandana.

The Prime Minister was not aware of full facts when he made that statement. He retracted later giving a clean chit to the VHP and Bajrang Dal. By that time Ashok Singhalji too had made his position clear about Amartya Sen.

But the state government has given a clean chit to the Manch. Law and order is purely a state subject. So if there is a conflict between reports of a state and Central agency, the former will be held more credible and will ultimately prevail over the latter.

They are free to distance themselves if they feel it as a necessity for running the government. They have their independent organisation and an independent constitution. If the BJPsupported our Ram Janmabhoomi movement, it was purely for vested interests. They wanted to increase their popularity, their vote share. It was a pure quid pro quo.