Author: Swami Asangananda Bharati
Publication: Organiser
Date: January 9, 2005
The conversion game is being played
by Christian missionaries and by Muslim fundamentalists by resorting to
conversion only of Hindus in India. I have never seen any conversions of
Christians to Islam or Muslims to Christians being reported. Why? The oft-quoted
reason given by the protagonists of conversions is some of the ills affecting
the Vedic Hindu society, like caste system, poverty, untouchability, etc.
They have been carrying on with this kind of propaganda for centuries and
deluding the poor illiterate masses in the name of uplifting them. Let
me ask them-who are these Indian Christians and Muslims? Have they come
from Rome, Italy, Europe, England, America or from Arab countries? They
are Hindus only, whose forefathers were converted by the Muslim and foreign
rulers of this unfortunate land, not out of love for their faith, but by
force and allurements. I prefer to call them Muslim-Hindus, Christian-Hindus,
etc. We can ask a question from these people as to why the Christians missionaries
desist from converting the Muslims who are worse off as far as their living
conditions are concerned. Because they know that their heads would be chopped
of if they dared to do so. Why don't the Muslims go out to convert the
Christians to Islam if their religion is so good? Hinduism is a tolerant
Dharma and not a fundamentalist doctrine or dogma; as such, they can play
their nefarious game. But now the Hindus are not the same lot as they were
500 years ago. They are being forced to become intolerant of such activities
of the conversionists to protect their flock.
I would like to dispel the ignorance
of the protagonists of conversion of the Vedic Hindus on some of the social
ills in the Vedic Hindu society and cited as reasons for conversion. They
say that Hinduism lost to Buddhism in the olden days due to some of these
ills. It is absolutely wrong. The assertion that Buddhism took hold in
India because of the caste system is historically not correct. Rather,
it was widespread bloodshed due to wars by Emperor Ashoka and his realisation
of its futility that he came under the sway of ahimsa of Buddhism and adopted
it. Under his tutelage, Buddhism spread in ancient India and in the Far
East. It was not because of the caste system. Moreover, Buddhism is an
offshoot of Vedism only. It is not a foreign religion for India.
One of the most misunderstood and
widely derided and exploited social system of the Vedic Hindus is the caste
system. Unfortunately, even most of the learned Vedic Hindus have no idea
of this system and its genesis. In the Vedic scriptures there is no mention
of castes at all. Caste means a guild of occupations and that is what it
is. The Vedas laid down varna system by dividing the human society into
four classes, not castes. The varnas are classes which exist in every civilised
society in some form or the other. There is no mention of higher varnas
or inferior varnas. All have their equally important place in the scheme
of things of the society. Every organisation has that kind of a classification
of their human resources of a similar type even today-the hierarchy of
the top management, middle management, supervisory class and the working
class.
One of the most misunderstood and
mispublicised is the Shudra varna. Shudra did not mean 'untouchable' which
the protagonists of conversion have made out to be. Shudra varna stood
for the general workforce to assist the other varnas to carry out their
duties for the society. Untouchability is a function of hygiene and related
to economic conditions and lifestyles. I have seen even poor Brahmins being
treated worse than the so-called untouchables for reasons of their poverty
and lifestyles. It exists stealthily in the materially advanced countries
also for the same reasons. Unfortunately, even after 50 years of Independence
of the country, poverty and illiteracy of the masses have not been ameliorated
by the successive governments that have come to power.
People do not know that even after
conversion to Christianity or Islam, the fate of those converted did not
change by and large, socially. They still carried the caste band with them
in their social dealings.
The caste system as it exists and
is understood today is of recent origin, perhaps not more than 400 or 500
years old. The Muslim invaders and the British colonists tried to create
divisions in the Hindu society to suit their vested interests. In the Vedic
system it was work classification that was called jati pratha. Jatis were
the occupations, professions of the people, mainly of the Shudra varna.
For example, there are jatis like chamar-the leather workers, telis-the
oil extractors, luhars-iron workers, barharis-the carpenters, sunar-the
goldsmiths, and so on. Amongst the other varnas also there was some classification
according to the kind of duties they performed in their broad spheres.
Under the influence of the economic
system and the need for efficiency in their duties, people of the same
or similar occupations, naturally, became more cohesive professionally
and socially. It was an evolutionary process due to economic factors and
not thrust on the society by the scriptures or the Brahminic order as is
propagated by the conversionists and casteist politicians of today. The
illiteracy and poverty of the people have been exploited by the church
and Islamic fundamentalists for political reasons. Unfortunately, even
many Vedic Hindus, who are ignorant of the reality, are carried away by
the propaganda of the missionaries and the politicians these days. People
do not know that even after conversion to Christianity or Islam, the fate
of those converted did not change by and large, socially. They still carried
the caste band with them in their social dealings. The recent demand by
the Christian missionaries and Muslim fundamentalist organisations for
reservations in jobs and schools, etc. for those converted, as for the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes of the Hindus, is a clear proof of the status
of converts and the objectives of the conversionists.
Yes, the Indian Constitution does
not bar conversion on grounds of freedom of faith. Unfortunately, the framers
of the Constitution did not have the political vision of the subsequent
developments which have resulted because of these provisions. Freedom of
faith can be exercised by those who understand the faith. How can this
be justified by conversions being carried out en masse by villages or communities
as a whole through allurements of money, education, jobs, etc.? How many
educated, well-informed people get converted? Hardly any. If Christianity
or Islam was so magnanimous and attractive a faith, multitudes of Brahmins,
Kshatriyas and Vaishyas who are also poor would have thronged at the doors
of the churches and Maulvis for conversions. This did not happen. Moreover,
why is there a hue and cry by the missionaries when Christians are getting
reconverted to Hinduism?
So, the message is clear. Conversions
are resorted to for political reasons and not for faith. There is, therefore,
absolute justification for imposing a ban on free conversions, particularly
by foreign missionaries and fundamentalist Muslims. Unfortunately, some
of the political parties espousing the cause of the minorities and even
the so-called Vedic Hindu leaders for their own self-aggrandisement seem
to be welcoming the conversions of Vedic Hindus. Since democracy is a game
of numbers and the masses at present are not enlightened enough about what
it actually means, people are carried away by false propaganda on caste,
religion, language and what not, by the selfish petty politicians exploiting
the minorities as their vote-bank. This has encouraged the Christian missionaries
and Muslim fundamentalists to lure the poor Hindus to convert. This is
the national viewpoint.
Vedic Hindus are perfectly within
their right to protect their people from such deceptive activities of the
activists of other religions. The ban imposed by the Jayalalithaa government
on conversions is the right step in cleaning the dirt in Indian politics.
All states should ban conversion. I would suggest that the Government of
India should bring some amendments in the Constitution by laying down clear
conditions and procedures for intended conversion by an individual or group.
If the government does not do something to rectify this situation, then
it will definitely encourage the unlawful halt to it offered by hard-core
co-religionists. Lawlessness in India has taken place whenever the governments
have failed the people to satisfy their legitimate feelings.
(The writer, formally known as Dr
Om Sharma, is a disciple of Swami Rama of the Himalayas and director of
Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy and can
be contacted at Nirmal Cave, F-25, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi-110 016.)
