Continuing its ‘ghar wapasi’ drive, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad allegedly re-converted over a hundred adivasi Christians in Kaprada taluka of Valsad district on Saturday.
The outfit claimed that about 170 families had gathered for the drive to bring back “misled” people to the Hindu fold.
“First they all took a holy bath at a ‘kund’ [holy pond]. Then they worshipped Ram and Hanuman. A ‘yagnya’ was performed followed by religious sermons by our priests. A ‘tilak’ ceremony was held in the end to complete the ‘ghar vapasi’. We only reconnect willing people to their ancestors. This is not conversion,” Dharmendra Bhavani, chief of Dharm Prasar Vibhag of the VHP, told The Hindu.
He claimed that the outfit had received applications from adivasi Christians expressing the desire to become Hindu.
“The adivasis themselves felt that they had taken the wrong path by converting to Christianity. They themselves threw their rosaries in the fire,” Mr. Bhavani said.
The police, however, said that they had not verified the religion of the adivasi people.
“The VHP performed a yagnya and only three couples were sitting at the yagnya, not 100 people as is being claimed. They did a ‘katha’[religious discourse through storytelling] . It was part of their golden jubilee celebrations and had nothing to do with religion. We have not received any complaint of forcible conversion, but if we do, we will take action,” Nipuna Torwane, Superintendent of Police, Valsad told The Hindu.
Asked if the three adivasi couples who sat at the ‘yagnya’ were Christians, Ms. Torwane said, “They had Hindu names. We have not verified their religion.”
Meanwhile, the VHP plans to continue its ‘reconversion’ drive in parts of Gujarat, namely in Vyara in Tapi district where it will launch a drive among Koli Rajputs who are said to have converted to Islam. It will also target the border areas of Kutch and areas of Bhavnagar district.
“Our jubilee celebrations have nothing to do with the ‘ghar vapasi’ work. This is our ongoing activity. We expect to receive 1,000 applications till ‘Krishna Janmashtami’ [in September]. Our workers are meeting interested people,” Mr. Bhavani said.
The VHP’s alleged reconversion drive in Agra created a controversy recently. Similar drives were reported in Aligarh and Bihar.
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