Conversion and GharWapsi

I am not against GharWapsi ( homecoming) programme per se. If those Hindus who have converted to Christianity at some point of time want to 'return home', I would respect their decision. And I would have no objection to Christians converting to Buddhism or Islam or Sikhism. Each individual must be given the freedom to choose whatever religion she wants to follow. The problem with 'homecoming' programme of the kind that Saffron brigades undertook in Agra recently involved bully and allurement. Had the Saffron brigades used persuasion to convince the Agra Muslims that Hinduism is the better religion, there would be no reason to make hue and cry about the episode. However, possibly to create hype that there is a 'homecoming wave',  the Saffron brigades had invited the media, and eventually the truth beneath the surface emerged. Conversion or reconversion in a fair and transparent manner must be allowed in a democratic setting. 

I am not quite happy with the terminology 'Gharwapsi' (homecoming). Not every present Indian were Hindus in the past. The people of the community (Nagas) I come from were never Hindus. Today one third of the Nagas are in Burma, and two third in India. Animism, Buddhism and Christianity are the main religions among the Nagas today. And Animism and Buddhism are not equivalent to Hinduism despite the Saffron Brigades claiming otherwise. The assertion that everybody in the world was at one point of time Hindu is nonsense. It is as nonsensical as the assertions that plastic surgery, missiles, cloning etc were all practised in India's ancient past. 

In the entire controversy, one can notice well meaning scholars sometime not just getting Christianity right. It is fine for a person to reject Christianity as much as it is fine for one to reject Marxism. However, it is important to correctly understand what Christianity is. One will not learn about Christianity by reading Da Vinci Code. To learn about Christianity one would have to engage with the writings of C S Lewis, Dostoyevsky, Locke, Calvin, Aquinas, Augustine  et al.; and most importantly the Bible. From the Indian sub-continent one writer to engage with, to know Christianity, would be Sri Lankan thinker Vinoth Ramachandra.  A religion that has thrived for 2000 requires a least that much of respect. After all there is something worth engaging with that it captured the heart and mind of over two billion people today.