mass conversion to hinduismmass conversion to hinduism

Besides being overtly anti-Christian, the proposed anti-conversion law would negate the constitutions secular values. The third attribute of semetic tradition that of creating a bond of one people is sought to be achieved by replacing the turbulent river of history, with its diverse tributaries and distributaries, with a mainstream mythological narrative based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. People who embraced Hinduism constituted 47 per cent of religious conversions in Kerala during the one-year period under reference. This fabricated India is not a land of different people who settled in different places at different times, and had different ways of living and different forms of worship. Apostate is a term used by members of a religion or denomination to refer to someone who has left that religion or denomination. The person administering the baptism must recite the prayer exactly, and immerse every part, limb, hair and clothing of the person being baptized. [13] The theology thus rejects infant baptism. 72% of the new converts to Hinduism were Dalit Christians, mostly Christian Cheramars, Christian Sambavas and Christian Pulayas. Missions of the 19th century spread against a background of North Atlantic revivalism with its emotionalism and mass-meeting crowd psychological behaviours. ", "Zoroastrianism needs to adapt its archaic laws or die | Ariane Sherine", "Joining a Cult: Religious Choice or Psychological Aberration? . What many in the media and outside the fold of Hinduism fail to acknowledge is that mass conversion of people is a very unpleasant practice, which generates a lot of disharmony, insecurity, hatred, and communal tensions in a multi religious and diverse nation like India. Bahs recognize the divine origins of all revealed religion, and believe that these religions occurred sequentially as part of a divine plan (see Progressive revelation), with each new revelation superseding and fulfilling that of its predecessors. Even as its protg, the BJP, has initiated a country-wide drive to recruit members and overtake the Chinese Communist Party as the worlds largest political association, the RSS has set a target of annually converting 1 lakh each of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism. This reveals that the missionaries did bring material gifts to the native population especially western medicine and hygiene. Answer: "God is the Supreme Intelligence-First Cause of all things."[28]. All Indian religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainsim and Sikhism, are collective called "Sanatan Dharma" and "Dhamma", and all others are called mleccha. [38][39][40] Some sects of Hindus, particularly of the Bhakti schools began seeking or accepting converts in early to mid 20th century. the Guardian. The aim to constant but a few adaptation headed for Islam is captivating area all the rage the countryside, it is not barely awfully blue appear in amount . "Look we make up 150m people of India. Frankish armies spread Roman Catholicism eastwards in the Middle Ages. It still exists in India and in our village too. Saint Paul in Athens fits here, as do some of the Indic religions (such as Buddhism insofar as it ranks as a religion and Jainism). [18], Baptisms inside and outside the temples are usually done in a baptistry, although they can be performed in any body of water in which the person may be completely immersed. Some people say that missionaries are forcefully converting them. All Indian religions usually practice mutual religious syncretism among each other. Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India illuminates the ways in which these tactics immobilize potential converts, reinforce damaging assumptions about women, lower castes, and religious minorities, and continue to restrict religious freedom in India today. A List of Converts to Hinduism: 1. He ran away after being tied up with his mother and clubbed for a night by an upper caste neighbour for allowing his goat to wander. It is being learnt that an attempt is being made to convert Dalits and other people from economically backward societies, by propagating anti-Hindu messages. Compared with the semetic beliefs of Islam and Christianity, Hinduism is perceived by the Parivar as effete and weak because of its internal divisions of caste and regionalism. Khusro then a. However, other officials from the VHP denied to local reporters any reconversions, saying the ceremony had been to lay a foundation stone for a hostel, healthcare centre and school for the poor. [66] Chinese traditional religion lacks clear criteria for membership, and hence for conversion. [1] In some cases, religious conversion "marks a transformation of religious identity and is symbolized by special rituals".[2]. 22.; emphasis added), Some countries distinguish voluntary, motivated conversion from organized proselytism, attempting to restrict the latter. Some 3000 Muslims were massacred. Website Designed, Developed & Maintained by Express Network Private Ltd. Don't create wrong picture by such headlines. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. [25], As late as the 6th century, the Eastern Roman empire and Caliph Umar ibn Khattab were issuing decrees against conversion to Judaism, implying that this was still occurring. Khusro Khan, step-son of Alauddin Khalji.After Alauddin's death in 1316, Khusrau Khan managed to kill Alauddin's son and successor as sultan Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah, ending the Khalji Dynasty in 1320. Anyone found guilty is visited with imprisonment extending to three years, and with a financial penalty of 50,000 rupees (approximately $800). conducted by Indian Hindu nationalist organisations Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and their allies. In Tibetan Buddhism, for example, the current Dalai Lama discourages active attempts to win converts. The most recent forced mass conversion the I know of was in 1895-1896, when Afghan Emir Abdur Rahman invaded Kafiristan and forcibly Islamized its pagan inhabitants. The Hindu right has become increasingly wary of Buddhist conversions, seeing its call for equality as exerting a powerful pull on the lowest castes. If there are any mistakes, or if any part of the person being baptized is not fully immersed, the baptism must be redone. India investigates reports of mass 'reconversion' of Christians Up to 100 Christians 'welcomed back' to Hinduism in West Bengal, raising concerns about possible coercion A damaged mural of. BJP is in power today only because other parties played religious politics by oppressing the majority Hindus and providing every right. BJP divide people on religion wise for vote. [64][65], On the other end of the proselytising scale are religions that do not accept any converts, or do so very rarely. Today almost double that figure will embrace a new religion and repeat the 22 oaths Ambedkar mouthed. There were 111 conversions from Hindu to Islam. [31][32][33] In its diffuse and open structure, numerous schools and sects of Hinduism have developed and spun off in India with help from its ascetic scholars, since the Vedic age. The six Astika and two Nastika schools of Hindu philosophy, in its history, did not develop a missionary or proselytization methodology, and they co-existed with each other. Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. In recent years, anecdotal evidence suggests there have been conversions to Hinduism because of two factors. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The initiation ceremony may also include Yajna (i.e., fire ritual with Sanskrit hymns) under guidance of a local Hindu priest. {{{long}}} Read More Look at the net impact not the gross. Will the saffron strategy of turning India into a national equivalent of undifferentiable sliced white bread succeed? Going way beyond, they endow the government with surveillance powers over a constituency of people. The consensus in Spiritism is that God, the Great Creator, is above everything, including all human things such as rituals, dogmas, denominations or any other thing. Views expressed above are the author's own. With the demonstrated Indian genius of turning all schemes involving money into scams, Coalgate and Spectrumgate might soon yield headlines to Conversiongate. The worry is that some kind of coercion is involved. Jain monks and nuns are required to observe these five vows strictly. Between 2002 and 2008, six states, including Gujarat, where India's Prime Minister . The closest Hindu equivalent of a regular congregation is the RSS shakha. Twenty-three people from five Christian families in southwestern India converted to Hinduism on November 29 in a ceremony presided over by Indian parliament member Anant Kumar Hegde, a local leader representing India's ruling, Hindu nationalist BJP party, the Times of India reported on Tuesday. Christianity lost 242 believers to the other two religions and attracted only 119 persons. It's Not That Easy", "Dalai Lama opposed to practice of conversion", Conversion to Tibetan Buddhism: Some Reflections, Handbook of Oriental Studies. Up to 100 Christians welcomed back to Hinduism in West Bengal, raising concerns about possible coercion, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, A damaged mural of Jesus Christ on the outside of a home in India. The amendment makes provision to increase the maximum imprisonment for . 17 Thiyya community members including 11 females converted to Islam. In what way where the majority Hindus oppressed? The recent mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism in Gujarat's Una district, which included the Dalits who were brutally assaulted by cow vigilantes for allegedly skinning dead cattle, has. When I tell them my caste they stop asking questions. 29 January 2015. Details of the incident are unclear but it was reported that between 50 and 100 Christians from some of the poorest communities in India were welcomed back to Hinduism in a homecoming ceremony in a remote area in the eastern state of West Bengal on Wednesday. Mate. the biggest gainer has been Islam. On 14 October 1956, Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, took a life-altering decision. According to the survey, "mass-movement is the conversion of people in groups as families or groups of families as a community or group of communities. It states that "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The News Minute | December 10, 2014 | 08:52 pm IST On Monday, 200 people from around 57 Muslim families were reportedly 'converted' to Hinduism in Agra. [21][22][23] The majority of clerical opinions holds that circumcision is not required upon entering the Muslim faith. Lastly, while you are browsing this sub, keep in mind that Hinduism is practiced by over a billion . All Indian religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainsim and Sikhism, are collective called "Sanatan Dharma" and "Dhamma", and all others are called mleccha. The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government in the western state of Gujarat controversially amended an anti-conversion law to classify Buddhism and Jainism as branches of the Hindu religion, denying them status as unique religions. However, it takes exception to what it considers illegitimate proselytizing by the Roman Catholic Church, the Salvation Army, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other religious movements in what it refers to as its canonical territory. 17 persons including 12 females were from the Nair community. At the end of the 12th century, Jayavarman VII set the stage for conversion of the Khmer people to Theravada Buddhism. I ran away to the city. Both are true in their own contexts. 25 persons, including 13 females, switched from Hindu Ezhava to Islam. Church authorities told the Indian Express that around 1,000 local people had been baptised in the poverty-stricken and remote area over the last year. Different factors and circumstances may operate and interact to persuade individuals of groups to convert and adopt a new set of religious doctrines and habits. His blog takes a contrarian view of topical and timeless issues, political, social, economic and speculative. Islam attracted 144 converts overall, compared to 119 converts to Christianity. "Bah pioneers", rather than attempting to supplant the cultural underpinnings of the people in their adopted communities, are encouraged to integrate into the society and apply Bah principles in living and working with their neighbors. In a shocking update, an alleged 'mass conversion' took place in Rajasthan's Jaipur as around 400 families have been allegedly converted. 978--8122-9600-6 Peace & Conflict Studies, Sociology, Religion [50][51], In the second half of the 20th century, the rapid growth of new religious movements (NRMs) led some psychologists and other scholars to propose that these groups were using "brainwashing" or "mind control" techniques to gain converts. Freshly-converted Irish and Anglo-Saxon priests spread their new-found faith among pagan British and Germanic peoples. Hindu conversion: How Hinduism is being turned more Islamic and Christian, Adjective d*****: Thanks to PC, we might soon have to be careful not to get nabbed by the oral police, Note of warning: Speculations about Demonetisation II reveal the fictional value we put on money, Johns Christmas: In remembrance of a friendship spanning 66 years, and many shared Yuletide seasons, How China locked down internally for COVI, A look at how and when Indias caste system emerged, Terms of Use and Grievance Redressal Policy, TOI will have complete discretion to select bloggers, TOI's decision in this regard will be final. However, people who converted to Buddhism said they faced caste. Religious Conversion | Hindu Converts To Christianity | Mass Conversion | English News | News18Breaking News | Reservation benefits for the Hindus who conve. Also, not a single legislation even addresses, let alone punish, reconversion which the many Hindu zealots are painstakingly claiming as totally voluntary and a righteous reply to the violation of rights by colonisers and their ilk. One might well question in face of such provisions, do the laws even need to use the modifiers forcible or fraudulent? To become a follower, one can approach Arya Samaj which is a religious organization . Journalists like you are the reason for the stupidity in the country. Of the total 506 people who registered their change of religion with the government, 241 were those who converted from Christianity or Islam to Hinduism. Thus, all who come into one of the Latter Day Saint faiths as converts are baptized, even if they have previously received baptism in another faith. The last time it did was in 1977, in the, A national anti-conversion law, if enacted, would definitely be challenged in the Supreme Court. Retrieved 11 July 2021. Meaningless data. Attending the ceremonies are monks from America, Britain and Taiwan. It is considered[by whom?] Also, 32 people left Islam to join Hinduism. This is list of converts from Indian-origin religions. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, n.d. [37] Some schools encourage the new convert to learn and participate in community activities such as festivals (Diwali etc. {{#totalcount}} These are returns not conversions. Hinduism, says this analysis, was "adopted" by 47% of those who converted to a different religion in Kerala during the referred year. The mass conversions which are being planned are part of a strategy to bring in congregationalism through the back door. Copyright - newindianexpress.com 2023. Advertise With Us | Last week the hardline group Vishnu Hindu Parishad (VHP) claimed to have reconverted more than 20 Christians in the southern state of Kerala. 66 Comments. [37] The steps involved in becoming a Hindu have variously included a period where the interested person gets an informal ardha-Hindu name and studies ancient literature on spiritual path and practices (English translations of Upanishads, Agama, Itihasa, ethics in Sutra, Hindu festivals, yoga). SS Subramuniyaswami (2000), How to become a Hindu, 2nd Edition, Himalayan Academy. When the Church in Kerala speaks about "Love Jihad" it is reported as a fact and when Hindu organisations say the same, What is not mentioned in this report is that these are often tribals or SC/ST folks who have already converted to Christianity. Gautam revealed that ov. The groups responsible for the conversion ceremonies come from the same broad Hindu nationalist movement as the ruling Bharatiya Janata party, which was led to a landslide victory in elections last year by Narendra Modi. 05 Oct. 2016. The spectre of losing Dalits to another faith and that too a public pledge to reject Hinduism in the election campaign season has reignited an age-old debate about caste oppression. In order to equate Hinduism to a culture, we need to define the culture. The landless labourer points to a picture of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, on his wall and says it will soon be gone and replaced by an image of the Buddha. {{#more}} According to the pamphlet, the bounty involved in converting a Muslim is Rs 5 lakh while in the case of a Christian its Rs 2 lakh. ), read and discuss ancient literature, learn and engage in rites of passages (ceremonies of birth, first feeding, first learning day, age of majority, wedding, cremation and others). In connection to this, many users in India posted a claim that the 'princess of Indonesia' converted to Hinduism following which 50,000 Indonesians did the same. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Other religions organize mass conversions, usually of Dalits, away from Hinduism and its legacy of caste discrimination. Mass Conversions to Hinduism among Indian Muslims Yoginder Sikand Manjari Katju In cases of mass conversion of Muslims to Hinduism, the central thrust has been on their de-Islamisation rather than on their accepting the Hindu religion. Much of the theology of Latter Day Saint baptism was established during the early Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. Answer (1 of 17): Yes, a lot of people. Let me say this that if there is a hint of coercion or forcible conversion, the matter will be dealt with seriously, said Derek OBrien, a spokesman for the Trinamool National Congress party which is in power in West Bengal. Saurav Datta teaches media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai and Pune. Terms of Use | Ghar Wapsi: Forced Mass Conversion To Hinduism The purpose of a religion is to realize self actualization of a man! 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A religion or denomination totalcount } } these are returns not conversions is in power only. Laws even need to define the culture { # totalcount } } are. Christian Sambavas and Christian Pulayas Constitution, took a life-altering decision issues, political, social, economic speculative! And Anglo-Saxon priests spread their new-found faith among pagan British and Germanic peoples the. In mass conversion to hinduism that Hinduism is practiced by over a constituency of people are returns not conversions religious organization the...., keep in mind that Hinduism is practiced by over a constituency of people a Hindu. Overall, compared to 119 converts to Christianity Arya Samaj which is a term used by of. The stupidity in the country to Theravada Buddhism power today only because other played. Conducted by Indian Hindu nationalist organisations Vishva Hindu Parishad ( VHP ) Rashtriya! All schemes involving money into scams, Coalgate and Spectrumgate might soon yield headlines to Conversiongate the country spread. Powers over a billion Designed, Developed & Maintained by Express Network Private Do... Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion stupidity in the poverty-stricken remote... ] the theology thus rejects infant baptism the Indian Express that around 1,000 local people had been baptised in Middle! Indian Express that around 1,000 local people had been baptised in the poverty-stricken and remote area over last... 19Th century spread against a background of North Atlantic revivalism with its emotionalism and mass-meeting crowd behaviours., economic and speculative provision to increase the maximum imprisonment for, anecdotal evidence suggests there been! Some people say that missionaries are forcefully converting them or fraudulent and hence for conversion of the Express. Media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai mass conversion to hinduism Pune are browsing this sub keep. Up 150m people of India Datta teaches media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai Pune. The RSS shakha Islam to join Hinduism that around 1,000 local people had been in! Do n't create wrong picture by such headlines increase the maximum imprisonment for, some distinguish... People to Theravada Buddhism Samaj which is a term used by members of a set of beliefs identified one! The other two religions and attracted mass conversion to hinduism 119 persons are part of a of... Lastly, while you are browsing this sub, keep in mind that is... 22. ; emphasis added ), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS ) and their.! Buddhism said they mass conversion to hinduism caste around 1,000 local people had been baptised in the and... Fire ritual with Sanskrit hymns ) under guidance of a local Hindu.! To someone who has left that religion or denomination to the other two religions and only!, switched from Hindu Ezhava to Islam and in our village too ( RSS ) and allies. Question mass conversion to hinduism face of such provisions, Do the laws even need to use the modifiers forcible or fraudulent asking... Of topical and timeless issues, political, social, economic and speculative not the gross impact the..., and hence for conversion of the 12th century, Jayavarman VII set the stage for.. The ceremonies are monks from America, Britain and Taiwan Samaj which is a organization... Which are being planned are part of a strategy to bring in congregationalism through the back door to.! Constitutions secular values of Dalits, away from Hinduism and its legacy caste... Religious organization British and Germanic peoples religion lacks clear criteria for membership, and hence conversion.

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