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JASHPUR NAGAR, April 9: BJP president Rajnath
Singh dared Christian missionaries to "try
converting any Hindu" and vowed to turn tables
on them today.
The BJP president, who had been speaking at a
string of public meetings on his way to Jashpur
Nagar from Raigad in course of his Bharat Suraksha
Yatra, turned unusually aggressive after entering
the domain of Dalip Singh Judeo, who spearheads
the Sangh Parivar's "Ghar Vapsi" (reconversion)
programme among Adivasis.
Be it Dharamjaigarh, Pathalgaon, Kasabel, Kunkuri
or Jashpur, Singh had a single theme: Those who
are converting Hindus, take heed. There is no
mercy for you.
Warming to his subject, Singh said Christian missionaries
tried to convert people in the name of service.
But "there cannot be a more cruel joke than
the use of money or service to convert the poor."
Referring to Rajasthan government's fresh law
cracking down on conversions, he pointed out,
"as soon as I became the BJP president, I
told all my party chief ministers to enact laws
to check conversion and foil the designs of Christian
missionaries". The Jharkhand government is
ready with a draft bill, he said, and called upon
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who was
on stage with him, to follow suit.
Even Madhya Pradesh, which already has a law on
the issue, needs a more stringent legislation,
he told The Indian Express later.
Conversions comprise the biggest danger to society,
he told his audience, and "we cannot allow
the demographic profile of the country to be changed.
We will not let Hindus be converted into a minority,
as somebody has said they would be by 2060. As
long as the BJP is on the political scene, it
would fight such attempts tooth and nail".
Singh had a word of praise for Judeo too, who
accompanied him on his 'rath'.
"I appreciate Judeoji from the core of my
heart for carrying on the ghar vapsi programme.
It is something unparalleled?a scion of a royal
family washing the feet of people upon their return
to the Hindu fold."
Rajnath's choice of Jashpur to take on Christian
missionaries has a strategic significance.
The area has the biggest church in Chhattsigarh?at
Kunkuri?and has a sizeable Christian population.
Not surprisingly, the Parivar has boosted its
activity here. The countryside is dotted by Saraswati
Shishu Mandirs, meant to counter missionary schools.
VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia conducted
a "trishool diksha" programme at Kasabel
last week. |
