Himachal Pradesh seventh state where tribal peoples are coerced ‘back’ to Hinduism.

NEW DELHI – Hindu extremists have extended to the northern state of Himachal Pradesh a movement to bring Christian converts back to the Hindu fold through dubious “reconversion” events.

In what can be seen as the beginning of the movement in Himachal Pradesh, a Hindu group on February 28 organized a religious ritual to reconvert 151 Dalit Christians in the Arya Samaj temple in Shimla, the state capital, according to the March 11 issue of a publication that serves as the mouthpiece of the extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The RSS’s weekly Organiser reported that temple priest Mahant Suryanath marked the reconversion by washing the feet of the converts, offering them water from the Ganges River (considered holy by Hindus) and reading from the Vedas, the Hindu scriptures. The event was organized by Tarsem Bharti, president of the Himachal Pradesh unit of the All India Scheduled Caste (Dalit) and Scheduled Tribe (aboriginal) Mahasangh, or federation, which is allegedly linked to the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), political wing of the RSS.

Bharti, a member of the state BJP, told Compass that some of the 24,000 Dalits and tribal people of the federation in the state had marked their membership forms as “Christian” with “Hinduism” in parentheses.

Launching an inquiry, Bharti said he learned that those people had been converted through missionaries allegedly using “allurement.” He said most of the converts were promised healing from sickness, while others were offered jobs.

Bharti prepared an “oath form” saying that those signing had been lured to Christianity but that they now wished to return to Hinduism. He took the signatures of the converts one by one. Asked if he could tell the names of the Christian organizations or individuals who “converted” these people, Bharti said he did not know.

“However, many were converted by the numerous house churches operating here,” he said.

The Organiser quoted a “former senior pastor,” Tulku Ram, as saying, “I was literally cheated. In 1997, while I was doing my graduation, they [missionaries] contacted me and assured me a good job, provided I got converted. But after [my] conversion, they sent me to the Agape Bible College, Ludhiana [in Punjab state], for a one-year training and then to the GFA [Gospel for Asia] College, Kumbnad [Kerala state] for another one-year training.”

The report said that Ram’s organization, Masihi Sangati (Christian Fellowship), had converted more than 1,000 people in Himachal Pradesh.

But the Rev. Dinesh Chand, a leader of the All India Christian Council (AICC) in Himachal Pradesh, said he had learned that most of those said to be “reconverted” had never received Christ in the first place.

“A majority of them would go to a church or prayer meeting once in a while, but the organizers told them that they had become Christians,” Chand said. “When they denied it, he asked them to come to the temple for ‘purification’ and declared their ‘reconversion.’”

Chand termed the “reconversion” event as “politically motivated” and for “personal gain.” Bharti organized the program to obtain future political benefit from it as he is an aspiring candidate for the assembly elections due next year, Chand said.

A local source who requested anonymity noted that Bharti was a “capable but sidelined” member of the state BJP.