Author: Dr Justice P. Venugopal
(Retd)
Publication: Organiser
Date: May 18, 2003
URL: http://www.organiser.org/18May2003/p9.htm
Conversion attempts leads to social
tension
In January 2003 tension prevailed
near Deva Raja market in Mysore when a religious congregation led by Christian
missionaries made derogatory references against Hindu gods and made attempts
to convert people from the economically weaker sections and the local MIA
went to the police station and lodged a complaint and the police are investigating
the case.
The recent attempt at mass conversion
in Selaiyeur (Chennai) should open the eyes of Hindus to the objectionable
modus operandi used by foreign missionaries to collect a crowed for their
ambitious programmes to convert 3000 Dalits to Christianity. The Dalits
were told that the meeting was being convened to celebrate Ambedkar's birthday
and they were unaware of the real purpose for which the meeting was held.
When the Christian missionaries started preaching and made efforts to convert
the Dalits to Christianity there were loud protests and confusion and the
meeting abruptly ended resulting in the conversion of few Dalits to Christianity.
This is an instance to show the fraudulent means adopted to convert Dalits
to Christianity. This appeared as a news item in the New Indian Express
published two months back.
US Missionary Joseph William Cooper
came to India on a tourist visa and was directed to leave India before
26.1.2003 on the charge of preaching Christianity and indulging in religious
conversions near Trivandrum in Kerala. Cooper violated a 1955 Central Government
order restricting foreign Christian missionaries from making speeches at
religious conventions while visiting India on a tourist visa. Hence he
was directed to leave India. Evangelistic activities by foreign Christian
missionaries in India are prejudicial to the interest of the country, affect
social harmony and are a threat to maintenance of public order. The Joseph
William cooper incident must be an eye opener to other States in India.
Convert an inevitable extremist
and a potential terrorist
Marvin Geonzon, a Christian, was
converted to Islam in 1997 and joined a terror factory where his instructors
taught him subjects like "Jihad" the holy war by Muslims against person
of other religious and bomb making. Marvin has matured into a terrorist.
He set off a bomb in a restaurant in Southern Philippines killing six people
and within four years after conversion he became a terrorist. The magazine
Far Eastern Economist published an article under the heading "How a convert
turned into a terrorist" and cited a number of instances of terrorist activities
committed by the new converts to Islam and concluded by stating "that many
of the zealous young converts to Islam are prepared to die for the new
found faith". And anti-terror official of the Philippines recently declared:
"The new wave of converts to Islam could prove more dangerous than established
Muslim guerilla group." According to him, "Converts are ideal terrorists
and they are eager to prove themselves worthy of their new faith". In his
article on "Converts to Violence" in New York Post Editor Daniel Pipes
states the link between neo-converts and violent terrorists and concludes
by saying that it was no surprise that the prime suspect in the Washington
DC area sniper attack that took place on November 11, 2000 was found to
be John Allen Muhammad, a convert to Islam seventeen years back.
Abdullah-EI-Faisal, aged 39, was
converted to Islam and came to Britain in the nineties and was arrested
in 2000 after questions were raised in British Parliament about his activities.
He was accused of going around the country inciting "impression-able" Muslim
youths to kill "non-believers". Tapes of his inflammatory speeches were
played before the Jury. In one tape recorded before the well known September
11 attack that took place in the United States he was heard telling his
followers to "learn to shoot -fly planes and use missiles". In another
speech recorded in tape he justified use of nuclear weapons against a country,
which has 100 per cent non-believers. Holding that the extremist Muslim
Cleric Abdullah-El- Faisal guilty of inciting racial hatred by urging his
followers to kill non-believers including Hindus and Jews a British Court
at Old Bailey sentenced him to nine years imprisonment and recommended
that the accused should be deported to his native country, Jamaica after
completing his sentence. This is another instance of how a convert becomes
an extremist indulging in terrorist activities.
The natural psychology of disgruntled
convert is to turn against his religion by birth and it is easy to make
him an extremist and a terrorist. A convert to Islam is a naturally motivated
person and an ideal candidate for "Jihad". The converts in India are driven
by the same psychology. Christian converts in Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya
and Tripura have demonstrated the same psychology. Some Islamic terrorists
in Tamil Nadu are new converts to Islam. Thus there is nexus between conversion
and terrorism and between converts and terrorists.
Conclusion
Foreign Christian missionaries should
understand that freedom to propagate religion under the Indian Constitution
is confined to only Citizens of India and do not extend to foreign Christian
missionaries. Further freedom to propagate religion does not mean the right
to convert people of one religion to another religion. After examining
the different meanings of the word "propagate" in Article 21(1) of the
Constitution Chief Justice A.N. Ray of the Supreme Court held that what
Article 21(1) grants is not the right to convert another person to one's
own religion by exposition of its tenets and ruled that propagation does
not mean conversion of one person to another religion. Rev. Stainslaws
v. State of Madhya Pradesh (AIR 1977 SC 908). From this decision of the
Supreme Court it is clear that the right to propagate religion granted
in Article 21(1) of the Constitution does not include the right to convert
a person to another religion.
Globally supported and funded and
with meticulous planning, preparation and follow-up action the converters
have exterminated hundreds and thousands of native Americans and turned
the United States into a Christian nation. Whole of Europe has been turned
into a Christian nation leaving no native element. Latin American Countries
have become Christians. 92 per cent of the Philippines 32 per cent of Africa
and Korea have embraced Christianity. The ancient Rome and Greek Civilisations
have gone into the archives after the advent of Christianity. Should this
happen to India? Should Hindu civilisation and culture to be a thing of
the past? In the world there are 52 countries for Muslims and 88 countries
for Christians. For Hindus there is only one country and that is India.
Should Hindu India be allowed to be exterminated and wiped out as happened
to other countries of the world?
Christians came to this land with
Bible and preached their religion. Muslim invaders came to India with the
sword and spread their religion. Spiritually liberated, as Indians are,
we accommodated both and also assimilated their religions as we were confident
that Hinduism would not be impaired by such accommodations and assimilations.
But Hindu generosity and liberal hospitality should not be allowed to be
exploited to spread other religions and convert Hindus to other religions
as it would amount to debasing and sabotaging Hindu religion which does
not believe in conversion or go to other countries to market their religion.
Hinduism does not preach conversion. Hinduism is the only religion in the
world that does not go for conversion. Should Hinduism be penalised for
following this ideology by converting Hindus to other religion?
