NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 15, 2001: Speaking out against religious conversion Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a Hindu spiritual leader, says at a meeting here, “If a person is converted by proselytization, he’s uprooted from his tradition. There’s a need to see we all live in harmony and mutual respect.” Despite these sentiments, conversion is a reality throughout India which has left the aftermath of hard feelings between Hindu Groups and Christian missionaries. Hindus feel that the Christian groups have forced conversion on poor Hindus who are offered education and health care after they have converted to Christianity. Denying the accusations, Christians say they only want to help the needy. In the early part of November, thousands of Hindu Dalits (“untouchables”) converted to Buddhism. Even though the caste system has been banished in India, 160 million Dalits have been denied basic social rights. They felt the conversion would give them social status. India’s President, R. Venkataraman, spoke candidly, “Conversion leads to animosity among religious groups. They also lead to retaliation by reconversion. You should not try to convert by force, fraud, or inducements.”
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