Umair Nawaz
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NEW DELHI: This Christmas, the RSS plans to convert at least 4,000 Christian and 1,000 Muslim families into Hinduism under what it calls the 'Ghar Wapsi' (returning home) programme. Organisers claim the event in Aligarh will be one of the biggest ever conversion programmes. Among the prominent faces at the event will be firebrand BJP MP Yogi Adityanath.
It has chosen the city, Aligarh, and the day, December 25, carefully. "Aligarh was chosen because it's time we wrest the Hindu city from Muslims. It is a city of brave Rajputs and their temples on whose remains Muslim institutions have been established," said RSS regional pracharak Rajeshwar Singh.
Christmas was chosen as the day for conversion because the event is a "shakti pariksha" (test of strength) for both religions, said Singh. "If their religion is better, they can stop them. It is a test for both of us. If they come to us on Christmas, it is the biggest rejection of the faith."
The families have already been identified from 40 slums in Aligarh, Bulandshahr and Hathras, Singh said. "The 4,000 Christian families belong to the Valmiki samaj. The Valmiki samaj is the feet of the Hindu society. We are incomplete without them."
The 1,000 Muslim families who have been identified for the conversion are descendants of Thakurs and Brahmins who have been convinced of their "lost pride", Singh claimed. RSS workers said the conversion was an annual event but it has been low profile all these years.
"Now many more people want to join us. This time we didn't indulge in any threat. We just had to make people understand," said Pankaj Singh, an RSS worker in Aligarh.
Many see the instances of " Ghar Wapsi" programmes organised by sangh outfits as an indication of their intolerance for minorities. They don't expect them to be treated as equals once they reconvert.
"On one hand they say they will treat the converts as equals and on the other hand they believe in Sanatana Dharma under which these converts will always be treated as outcastes," said Roop Rekha Verma, a former Lucknow University V-C who runs Saajhi Duniya, a not-for-profit working on communal harmony in UP.
Converting to Islam or Christianity has not necessarily reformed lives of Dalits, but going back to Hinduism will mean they will "be used as fuel against minorities", she added. The Sangh has outsourced all arrangements of the event to be held at Maheshwari College in the city to the Bajrang Dal. "There will be a havan anushtaan and use of Ganga water to purify the converts.
Pictures of Hindu deities will be distributed to them. We will tell them methods of our worship and give them our religious books," said Pruthivi Kumar, a Bajrang Dal associate in the region and in charge of making arrangements.
RSS plans to convert 4,000 Christian & 1,000 Muslim families to Hinduism - The Economic Times
It has chosen the city, Aligarh, and the day, December 25, carefully. "Aligarh was chosen because it's time we wrest the Hindu city from Muslims. It is a city of brave Rajputs and their temples on whose remains Muslim institutions have been established," said RSS regional pracharak Rajeshwar Singh.
Christmas was chosen as the day for conversion because the event is a "shakti pariksha" (test of strength) for both religions, said Singh. "If their religion is better, they can stop them. It is a test for both of us. If they come to us on Christmas, it is the biggest rejection of the faith."
The families have already been identified from 40 slums in Aligarh, Bulandshahr and Hathras, Singh said. "The 4,000 Christian families belong to the Valmiki samaj. The Valmiki samaj is the feet of the Hindu society. We are incomplete without them."
The 1,000 Muslim families who have been identified for the conversion are descendants of Thakurs and Brahmins who have been convinced of their "lost pride", Singh claimed. RSS workers said the conversion was an annual event but it has been low profile all these years.
"Now many more people want to join us. This time we didn't indulge in any threat. We just had to make people understand," said Pankaj Singh, an RSS worker in Aligarh.
Many see the instances of " Ghar Wapsi" programmes organised by sangh outfits as an indication of their intolerance for minorities. They don't expect them to be treated as equals once they reconvert.
"On one hand they say they will treat the converts as equals and on the other hand they believe in Sanatana Dharma under which these converts will always be treated as outcastes," said Roop Rekha Verma, a former Lucknow University V-C who runs Saajhi Duniya, a not-for-profit working on communal harmony in UP.
Converting to Islam or Christianity has not necessarily reformed lives of Dalits, but going back to Hinduism will mean they will "be used as fuel against minorities", she added. The Sangh has outsourced all arrangements of the event to be held at Maheshwari College in the city to the Bajrang Dal. "There will be a havan anushtaan and use of Ganga water to purify the converts.
Pictures of Hindu deities will be distributed to them. We will tell them methods of our worship and give them our religious books," said Pruthivi Kumar, a Bajrang Dal associate in the region and in charge of making arrangements.
RSS plans to convert 4,000 Christian & 1,000 Muslim families to Hinduism - The Economic Times
We smart. 
