RELIGION CONVERSION IN INDIA.

 

BY K P PASWAN.

In India, a fierce debate is going on regarding religious conversion. Several states have passed laws forbidding forced conversion and interfaith marriage wherein forced conversion is reported. India was divided on the basis of religion and an united India  emerged from political and social chaos. In the constitution there was a proposal to declare India as a Hindu state as Hindus are found only Lime Jews Hindus had no separate home land.  However, the founding fathers of the constitution favored a religious tolerant state with special emphasis to protect minorities like Muslims.

 At the time of independence India was a poor state with lowest literacy rate. Ruling elites in the decades of 1950 used to mock Hindus, but these mockers of Hindus won and formed the government. Majority of Indian wanted economic prosperity and they did not mind abusing their religion by prominent leaders. Religion conversion is happening in India from the time Islam and Christianity entered India, Foreign rulers forced people to embrace their religion or face death while Christianity introduced modern system of education for everybody, but converted people were preferred while granting monetary aid.

 At present Dalits are converting to Christianity, while interfaith marriage between Hindu girls and Muslims are not uncommon.  Both Islam and Christian religion preach universal brotherhood and there is no place for discrimination on the basis of caste. Dalits remain Dalits even if they convert to other religion. In Punjab, a large number of Dalits’ are converting themselves to Christian religion as the higher casts have refused to treat these Dalits on equal footing. For these Dalits there is nothing to chose between Sikhism and Hindus. This is happening all over India. So conversion by force becomes conversion out of compulsion.

·       Mass conversion of Dalits means trouble for India and the upper caste Hindus. It also means widespread social tension involving converts and the rest of the people who abhor such steps.

GEOGRAPHY. Entire North East of India is giving nightmarish sleep to the policy makers of the central government. People of these areas do not like to live in sovereign India. Armed forces have been given special powers to deal with the insurgents who are being patronized by foreign powers. Except Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Christianity predominate Tribal regions of small states. Credit goes to Christian missionaries for spreading modern education among the tribal and creating wonderful health infrastructures in the tribal areas. Unfortunately converts  are creating all sorts of problems and it is difficult to say whether they are loyal to the constitution of the country even they enjoy special treatment.

Constitution gives liberty to people to profess religion they love. India became a republic on 26^th January 1950 and from this date onward conversion started in legal or illegal ways. Rigid caste system led to systematic oppression of certain castes known as Dalits and Tribes. Christian missionaries known for charity works all over the world tried to convert Dalits by extending financial help, sick people were adopted and care homes were established. One interesting thing about these missionaries is emphasis on education. Missionaries schools and colleges are found every nook and corner of India. Except in northern states almost every school established by Christian missionaries is  flooded by students belonging to caste Hindus and barring exceptions no caste Hindu has been converted. We may draw conclusion that Christian missionaries are interested in imparting quality education and students are free to convert themselves to Christianity but this is not happening.

NORTH EAST. In North Eastern states of India, there is no problems of conversion, Nagaland ,Mizoram, Meghalaya are Christian majority states while in Manipur  Hinduism is fast losing to Christianity. It is only in the rest of India that conversion from Hinduism to other religion is  taking place and is creating fear psychosis  as history of India tells us that weakening of Hinduism has endangered the concept of a united India,

There is no legal bar if a person converts himself to other religion out of his own choice. In Kerala. Interfaith marriage between Hindu girls and Muslims boys don’t makes big news. In other big towns marriage between Hindu girls with Muslims are not uncommon. 

 Muslims and Christians try to take advantage of oppression of Dalits by upper castes and Dalits are converting themselves to Christianity in every state of Hindi speaking state and to some extent South India, honestly speaking, foreign missionaries cannot be blamed for alluring Dalits for the purpose of conversion. Economic enlistment of Dalits matters much. Some of the upper castes men and women advocate abolition of reservation for Dalits and Tribal and instead they suggest economic assistance to Dalits. This is a strange arguments as we know that economic criteria cannot be basis for reservation and due to widespread corruption, economic upliftment of Dalit is not only difficult but impossible.

 There are reasons to believe that in certain states like Odisha, UP, MP, Rajasthan, Punjab and Karnataka, foreign missionaries are adopting unfair means to convert Dalits to other religion. Apart from genuine but meager financial help foreign missionaries are not preaching virtues of their religion but insist on curing dreaded disease like HIV and Cancer just by converting to a particular religion.

 Situation in Punjab needs debate and action. Both Hindus and Sikhs are caste ridden and Dalits are escaping from discrimination. In the Sikh religion, Jats will not allow non Jats to come closer to them and in Hindus too Jats Hindus and other upper castes enjoy in suppressing the lower castes. Dalits have no options but to forgive reservation and convert to Christianity. But the conversion is not based on superiority of scriptures, which the Christian boast but on allurement and superstitions. As per police records in Punjab and Haryana some criminals being accused of rape and drug trafficking have became Prophets and Rev Fathers and are extorting money from the oppressed castes in the name of curing certain disease and depositing the money in their personal accounts. Well recognized Church has denied any connection with these persons who call themselves as prophets, Rev Father and true gospel. While certain upper castes Hindus and Sikhs, who are well educated have converted to Christianity out of choice and protests and agitations were not reported.

 There is also the insignificant question of love jihad which means nothing but interfaith marriage. Marriage between Hindu girls and Muslims is not uncommon. As per limited data most of the Hindu girls belonging to high castes and are educated and they fall in love with boys belonging to opposite faiths, these girls convert to the faiths of their husbands. No legislation is going to put a brake on such type of interfaith marriage.

Nearly ten years back a few bureaucrats used to visit once in a week to a remote area inhabited by poor Dalits and Tribal. We used to take rice pulse and other items for them, they were poor and half starved. The roads were not motorable.  After eight years when we were not in a position of strength, I along with a friend visited the area. To our pleasant surprise a motorable road has been constructed and after reaching the villages we were overwhelmed to see that under PM’s special programmes for poor, every family was living in good houses. There are two schools run by Lutheran Church and another by RSS, an organization of Hindus. Both the organisations were competing with each other in doing charity works, The Lutheran Church informed us that they were not interested in forcible conversion, instead they are providing health related facilities. The Hindu organization is  more popular and also doing very good charity works. Most of the people still practice Hindu religion but there is a feeling of hatred against each other. A few elders who recognized us informed that they were earning enough to meet both ends and that they had no hard feeling. 

FINAL WORDS.

While returning back I told my friend that there was no need of dreaded competition between foreign missionaries and Hindu organizations but a healthy cooperation which is essential for keeping the unity of India, but this is not going to happen. Anti-conversion legislation is unlikely to serve the purpose for which these are being advocated.

ACTORS AND ACTRESS IN POLITICS.

BY K P PASWAN

We are living in strange era. In the name of open or restricted democracy, people with different backgrounds are entering in politics. Comedians are contesting election and winning to become president but unable to keep people happy.Priests and holy men are also in the fray. Rise of ISIS was due to ambition of an educated man who spread the terror and committed suicide when encircled by killer squad.

Advent of actors in Indian politics may be traced back to MG Ramachandran, who was a successful Tamil actor and proved a competent CM of a Hinduised state.Ramchandran inspired other actors both male and female to flex their muscle in politics and the tradition continues.

1. Before elaborating the parts played by actors in India, we must bear in mind that Donald Trump in his youth was a prominent figure in television. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a celebrated and soldier like brave man of Hollywood and later on became the Governor o California  The present president of Ukraine is a celebrated Comedians and appeared in many television series.In India southern states but mainly Tamilnadu is dominated by male and female actors. They were democratically elected by people who were enthralled by their performance in big screen/ Karunanidhi and Jaylalita were CM of Tamilnadu for a long time and during their reign, other  political parties failed badly to secure sufficient seats in the state legislature.

CORONAVIRUS IN INDIA.

BY K P PASWAN.

In the month of January 2020 India along with countries like Japan, Germany and Brazil and some other countries was on the threshold of challenging the Chinese economy, but the country had to face unprecedented crisis when by March 2020, the Covid-19 engulfed the entire country. Following the social restrictions as suggested by epidemiologists and experts, the Govt had to impose lock down which resulted in mass migration of unskilled labors working in different parts of the country and manufacturing activities were slowed down.

 It was a race against time. India lost the battle to equalize its emerging economy with an economy of the rogue neighbor based on currency manipulation and undemocratic principles. The first wave of Covid-19 depressed the enthusiasm of every Indian. There were ups and down between March 2020 to March2021. It appeared that pandemic was  dying and the Secretary of Health declared that the Govt never promised free vaccines to every Indian. Vaccines were introduced and two vaccines manufactured in India were permitted for emergency use, but mass vaccination was not possible as there was less production than demand. Common people wrongly thought that the pandemic was over and they lowered the guard against protection like wearing mask and maintaining social distancing. Pandemic was far from over.

  When first wave was breathing heavily,Delta plus variant appeared from darkness and once again India was in the grip of severe Corona virus. Along with new variant, epidemiologists  created confusion by their bizarre predictions. There was acute shortage of vaccines and oxygen, it appeared that the world was going to witness merciless killing of Indians at the hands of brutal virus.  Hoarding and smuggling of oxygen cylinders were reported. Infected persons had to pay bribes for treatment in Govt hospitals.

Antony Fauccy, the US epidemiologist is known for his shifting stand and was hated by the former president Donald Trump. Fauccy suggested complete lock down in India for few months but The PM of India was wise enough to learn lesson from the last lock down which resulted in mass sufferings of Indian. Nothing was mandated and by a series of restrictions, India was able to monitor the infection throughout the country. Vaccination was encouraged  free of costs to every citizen. There was increased production of Indian made vaccines. By Sept 2021 Delta variant was to some extent disciplined,the result is surprising, India is doing well, while rest of the world is facing the wrath of another variant christened by WHO as OMICRON.

 Vaccines manufactured in India  was conceived by Oxford Zeneca in UK,platform was prepared by Ms Sarah Gilbert and proved effective against the Delta variant. Second vaccine Covaxin is actually manufactured and conceived in India but its application on large scale is not seen.

  What caused second wave? Some of the self-styled experts, intellectuals and politicians who also emerged simultaneously with Delta plus are openly accusing the PM of India for resurgence of Corona virus.Nobody on this earth ever anticipated the emergence of Covid--19. In Brazil the variant commonly known as P1 was initially mocked by the president of that country, as this variant was not anticipated by top experts. The former president of US was also in the habit of mocking Corona virus. More Americans died during the period of Joseph Biden, but unlike Trump he is not hated by majority of Americans for some unknown reasons.

 The number of deaths in India looked to be even worse than officials were letting on.  Analysis of crematorium statistics in three cities, Delhi,Mumbai and Madras found that the fatalities released by authorities appear far from reality. The magnitude of that finding is amplified by the fact that India's official statistics are already shattering global records for daily infections. But these figures are far from absolute truth. Rich and poor Indians died in a worst possible manner but unlike China India never tried to hide the figures of causalities which may change in future when normalcy returns to pre-Jan 2020 level. 

The Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt of India is a man, who is respected and trusted, while briefing the electronic media, he explained in detail the reasons behind surge of infection and we are grateful to him for removing the cloud of suspicion. How do we see the emergence of variants and warning of a third wave? Mr Raghwan is more straight forward than Antony Fauccy. He cleared our misconception of airborne Covid virus, the concept of which is being falsely spread by electronic media.

There is somebody either in Pentagon or in Wuhan in China who is not telling the truth about the origin of Corona virus. The bipolar politics of the world is being led by US and CHINA and both are acting in a strange way, not harming the economic interests of each other. There is no hidden agenda, as both US and China are aware of the brutality of the virus. But while tackling the pandemic, there must not be any dirty politics.

Narendra Modi happens to be an honest politician with down to earth approach. In the beginning of the pandemic, his every step was welcomed and his popularity reached its zenith. When in the beginning of 2021 when pandemic in India was hibernated, conducting election in WB. Tamilnadu Assam and UT Puducherry and opening of Kumbha gathering and permitting Cricket matches, provided stimulus to a dying virus which surged causing panic in the entire country .

 Now it is a hard fact that even without election , large gathering and sport activities, Delta variant was not going to be stopped as is evident from its brutal behavior and speed of transmissible through out the world.Vaccines manufactured in US like mRNA, J&J and Russian Sputnik V were likely to be introduced but economic compulsion was taken into account and only Russian vaccines were permitted for emergency use, Production of Covishield and Covaxin was encouraged and  steps were taken for mass vaccination  with result that India is doing far better than the rest of the world.

 At present there is no shortage of vaccines, in fact a large number of vaccines are lying unused and vaccines are being exported to other countries at moderate cost. If somehow by the end of this year, 90% of people of India are vaccinated then Modi may reclaim his lost glory and it is not hard to achieve the target. But how to inoculate the people?  We know that a large number of criminals belonging to every political party are finding an opportunity to deal in business of death. Rounding of criminals selling certain drugs in black markets bear testimony to the presence of criminals with no feeling for human life The pandemic could be at least temporarily under control in India by December of this year if most people get vaccinated and keep taking necessary precautions. 

 Almost every developed country of Europe is engaged in hoarding vaccines leaving the people of Africa at the mercy of cruel virus. But hoarding of vaccines boomeranged and three advanced countries of Europe UK, France and Germany are reporting death and infection as if vaccination is yet to be started 

 Entire world is fighting like hell.. PM of India is successful as a political figure but he underestimated the behaviors of Corona virus.  Mass vaccination is being carried out with vigor and he is in a position to guide the nation in right direction.

 When we compare situation in US with India we find situation is gradually improving giving a boost to national economy. Infrastructures relating to health has improved and in the event of third wave with different type of variant, India may be in a position to defeat the virus.

Omicron is the latest variant of Coronavirus which was first reported in South Africa and within a short it spread like wild fire in UK and other European countries. This variant is highly transmissible but less brutal than the Delta variant. Nevertheless, this variant is being taken as variant of concern, India is well prepared for this new Omicron which also affect fully vaccinated people but in most of the cases hospitalization is not required except in the case of persons with co morbidity. It appears this Omicron is testing the efficacy of existing vaccines.

 Conflicting opinions by experts and virologists are creating fear psychosis, This is evident when they talk of booster dose and vaccination of  kids. So far kids in India are not showing looming danger. Vaccines for children is likely to be permitted in next year. Booster dose is  surrounded by controversy. In US a large number of people are yet to be  given first jab  but booster dose has been mandated for certain categories of infected persons. In coming months, we may hear second booster and even yearly booster.

 No vaccines is perfect and even in the case of Omicron  experts are advocating vaccination. In absence of data it is premature to conclude that existing vaccines fail to protect against new variant. WHO is not encouraging booster dose for everybody.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, Stephen Bansel of Moderna and Mathai Manmman of J&J have refused to tweak their vaccines, as they are convinced that their vaccines may crush Omicron. Technology is changing overnights In 2022 we are going to see new sets of vaccines which may prevent Coronavirus from taking the lives of infected persons.

New variant Omicron may become third wave in India, but it is likely to be short lived. Omicron may not impact Indian economy badly. Expensive oral pills have been introduced in open markets but these drugs are beyond the reach of common people. Vaccination is the last and only alternative

 India is unlikely to suffer as it suffered between May and Sep of 2021. Baring Kerala and Maharashtra, other states are showing promising result of mass vaccination. Credit goes to Govt, health workers and above all general consciousness of the people as is proved by violent protest in Europe and  in Australia against lock down and vaccine mandate. No such protests were reported in India.