Ultras, zealots, both misuse faith

Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and now Karnataka, the right wing attacks on churches and the rant against conversions are now spreading. But can any kind of violence be explained away? Speak Up asks Mumbaikars.

92 - The number of dwellings, besides one church, that were destroyed by 5,000 activists in Ramgiri-Udaygiri in 1998

580 - The number of families that were displaced by a mob attack on Christians on Christmans-eve in 2007

390 - The number of cases registered by the police in the wake of the violence that followed the murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati in 2008

Expert view

Traditional Hindus aren’t agitated by conversions
I think that it is time that we made a distinction between three kinds of contemporary Hindus. The first is the flexible Hindu who is modern in his approach. The second is the traditional Hindu who is orthodox. But he will not turn violent about conversions. He does not believe that his faith is embattled. For most traditional Hindus, even Christ is an avatar. The third is the nationalist Hindu who is concerned about religious conversions. He cannot openly attack the minorities, no religion can be rejected outright. So he uses the theory of forced conversions to run the anti-minority campaign. Hinduism accepts that people have different religions and so going against minorities without any solid reason would be incorrect as per its philosophy. So, the nationalist Hindu says he is against forced conversions by Christians. But then there aren't any forced conversions.

Yes, zealous Christian groups hold out various attractions such as good schools and medicine but they never use force to convert.

The traditional Hindu doesn't really care about conversions. So nationalist Hindus are now trying to instigate the traditionalists by mobilising their opinion on the subject. They do this by citing how the country's demography will be changed if conversions continue. The real battle in my opinion is the conversion of traditional Hindus into nationalist Hindus.  

Even Gandhi believed that missionaries were not right when they used material sops to convert the poor. So the idea that missionaries are not doing the country any good is appealing and can be easily sold.  
—Sudhir Kakar. Psychoanalyst and writer

Missionaries worked hard for poverty alleviation
All this violence is instigated by fundamentalists. People are being made to believe that we are doing forcible conversions. But we don't. Jesus says that people can't be forced to convert. For someone to become a Christian it is necessary for him/ her to accept Jesus as the lord. Fundamentalist Hindu organisations don't really care for the poor. It is the missionaries who have been actively working in poor tribal belts, building hospitals and schools. They did pioneering work in this field. Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa is absolutely wrong in saying that it is a people's movement against Christians. We are being targeted because of our minority status. Churches are being ransacked even in Indore. On Saturday the main doors of an Indore church were burnt down. Fundamentalist Hindus are using terror as an excuse to target Muslims and conversions to target Christians. These tactics are only supposed to ensure them electoral benefits in the next Lok Sabha polls.
—Sandeep Gaikwad. President, All India Legal committee, People's SYNOD of Church of North India

The conflicts will end the day conversions stop
Churches are not the targets of Hindu groups; conversions are. Christians are very aggressive when it comes to converting poor Hindus, for example, there is a church called ‘Harvesting India Church’ in Karnataka which we oppose. There is no denying that people have the right to choose their religion but do they even know the real significance of Christianity or Bible before converting? The answer is no. It's the money and other facilities which lure them to do so. Millions of dollars are being made available by the West to facilitate conversions. Also, it's not the VHP and Bajrang Dal which are vandalising the churches. It is the society. In Orissa, the incidents started after the killing of Swami Saraswati. We only help the society in its mission. Members of other political parties also join us on this issue. For instance, former Orissa CM Nandini Satpathy's son is leading the campaign in Orissa. After the Graham Staines killing, the Wadhva Commission pointed out that until conversions are stopped, the conflict will continue.
—Surendra Jain.
All India Secretary, VHP

These are no less than straight acts of terrorism
Violence in any form, under any guise, is unacceptable. The current spate of attacks reflects our tattered social fabric. Everyone has the freedom to choose a religion. Those who are leading these attacks say that religious groups are luring away poor people with sops. But if that's the case then why don't these fundamentalist groups try the same trick with the converts. All they are now doing is destroying the marginally better life these poor people were enjoying. Have you noticed that these attacks are occurring in the run-up to the elections? The obvious aim is to garner votes. Politicians, even when they are in the government, choose to nurture communal intolerance for their own reasons. These attacks are a show of strength. They are nothing less than acts of terrorism. And these communal attacks further provoke acts of terror and not vice versa.  
—Sunil Kumar

There is a political agenda behind these attacks
The VHP and the Bajrang Dal seem to have no other agenda except for ‘religion’s. They are back at it again. None of these groups have the courage to fight independently, without the use of money or muscle. The recent attacks could be a part of a political agenda. I know for a fact that people convert so that they can get admission to good schools, receive monetary aid and so on. If you look at the reasons for terrorism and the reasons behind these attacks, you will find some similarity: both are killing in the name of religion. It is like if your own countrymen don't kill you, terrorists will. I still remember how Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt alive by Hindu fanatics in 1999. If the government had taken proper measures then this wouldn't have happened. The people behind such gruesome acts should be punished severely and severe action taken against these so-called religious groups.
 —Vijeta Shetty

These are vote-grabbing campaigns
You need two hands to clap; hence one cannot blame just the Hindus for the growing violence against churches. There was a reason for the Orissa violence: Swami Saraswati was killed by unknown assailants and that provoked the violence. The frequency of such attacks has increased because people have become impatient and have easy access to money to fund their activities. Elections are near and so parties are making a big issue of the hostilities. They are trying to convince people that they are protecting the Hindu faith. Conversion is not an issue to kill and fight over when there are bigger problems like terrorism. I'm sure there is the involvement of a third party. Terrorist and zealots both create a sense of fear and even a small issue can provoke large scale destruction. Therefore, we have to be calm and try to solve our problems peacefully.  —Subhash Kamble

I condemn the attacks, but conversions violate the soul
It is a matter of serious concern for all right thinking people that attacks on churches and institutions run by Christian missionaries are rising. Although militant Hindu outfits like the VHP and Bajrang Dal spearheaded these attacks, it is an irrefutable fact that the simmering discontent of the local populace also substantially contributed to these clashes. The methods adopted by Christian missionaries in converting the impoverished, illiterate members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes are questionable. These have created friction among the two religious groups in many communities. People only talk of the physical violence perpetrated by Hindu groups against Christians forgetting that conversion is also a violence-violence on the soul. The claim of the churches that the conversions are voluntary is specious. Unless the missionaries move with times, communal clashes are inevitable.
 —VM Swaraj