Christian associations continue to protest alleged mistreatment in India, and the United States has frequently reprimanded and lectured India on minorities’ rights in its numerous human rights reports. India, on the other hand, has constantly disputed their charges and replied in kind. Now, a 10-month-old video of a priest has surfaced, in which he declares that India is the top destination for conversions and that, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS’s efforts, they have succeeded in their mission. Father Chris Hodges of the Church of Highlands, said that his organization’s missionaries had already converted over 1 lakh Hindus in a single week. In this context, let us examine this claim and understand whether we should be worried about this disturbing news.
Controversial Claim
Pastor Chris Hodges stated that his organization’s missionaries converted over 100,000 Hindus in a single week. The preacher made the claims during a roughly 39-minute lecture. Chris Hodges is the senior pastor of the Highlands congregation, which advertises itself as a life-giving church gathering in numerous sites around Alabama and West Georgia on its official website. Chris Hodges serves as the founder and senior pastor of the Church of the Highlands, as mentioned on the website. He co-founded ARC (Association of Related Churches) in 2001, which has assisted in the establishment of hundreds of churches across the United States. He also launched Grow, a company that specialises in training and supporting clergy and congregations to help them overcome obstacles and realise their full potential. Chris Hodges, in addition to his role as the founder and senior pastor of the Church of the Highlands, is also the founder and Chancellor of Highlands College. This educational institution focuses on providing ministry training to students, equipping them for full-time employment in various areas of ministry. Referring to the Hindu majority of India as “lost people” in a film titled ‘Signs of the Times’ that was published on August 22, last year. According to Chris Hodges, one of the regions on the earth with the highest number of lost individuals who are both detached and unreached is the northern India region. The Pastor also expressed his disappointment that the RSS and Prime Minister Modi had made conversion harder in India. The missionary informed the pastor that they sponsor a group in north India, according to the preacher. And they organised into 3,931 outreach teams, which scattered over 15 northern Indian states to perform evangelism. He detailed how missionaries use the idea of demon possession to prey on the gullible. The pastor stated unequivocally that missionaries send ‘demon-possessed’ people to disturb villages, followed by the pastors coming into the villages as messiahs and casting out the demons.
Is Conversion Tougher Under Modi-Shah?
Among the troubling revelations, one of the intriguing things he said was how conversion has gotten more difficult in North India under the Modi-Shah BJP leadership. He asserted that it is in northern India, although the southern region was substantially Christianized. Over the last 10 years, India has taken a disastrous turn. Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance has been in office since 2014 and has cancelled the licences of various organisations, including Christian ones, for violating the 2010 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Pastor Chris Hodges expressed his dissatisfaction with recent events, saying, “Their Prime Minister has literally kicked out a lot of Christian agencies, and their entire organisation is set on making India 100% Hindu.” And it’s become extremely dark there. Most crucially, he failed to present any proof to support his fabricated charge. The Union Home Ministry has informed the Supreme Court that the right to religious freedom does not include the right to convert. Fraudulent or induced conversion violated an individual’s right to freedom of conscience while also jeopardising public order, according to the government, and therefore the state is fully within its rights to regulate/restrict it. The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices M R Shah and Him Kohli, expressed that while freedom of religion exists, it does not extend to forced conversions. This is a significant matter, and everyone has the freedom to choose their faith, but not through forced conversion or by providing temptation, according to the Bench. Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the Centre has regulated the operation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in religious conversions and anti-national activities. He also stated that the administration has made changes to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Some NGOs had engaged in anti-national crimes and religious conversions while abusing the FCRA, according to Home Minister Shah. The government’s dedicated initiatives and stringent implementation of legal regulations have made conversion by coercion and seduction much more difficult for these groups.
UP As A Sample State
Since the Prohibition of Illegal Religious Conversions Act was passed in Uttar Pradesh in 2020, 507 people have been detained as a result of 291 complaints being filed. 59 of the 291 incidents included children being converted. In 150 of these incidents, the victims claimed that they were compelled to go underground. The government of Yogi Adityanath has been particularly tough on the issue. CM Yogi Adityanath has often instructed officials that this situation must be closely monitored. During a review meeting last week, the CM stated that Christmas must be celebrated cheerfully. He did, however, emphasise that there should be no religious conversions in the state. Thus, the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has set a precedent for other Indian states to follow in order to avert this troubling trend.
Conversion from one faith to another is not an issue because it is based on an individual’s right to freedom and choice. However, such blatant declarations of conversion and finance in order to persuade and violently convert would do more harm than good to Indian society’s secular fabric. We, as responsible Indian citizens, will be concerned about this tendency and will be watchful enough to defend the nation’s secularism and integrity by resisting attempts to forcefully distort religious makeup.
(Anand Krishna is a Kerala-based lawyer and a columnist.)
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.