Religious conversions are a personal affair
Are the conversions legit or simply a commercial venture?
There has been unnecessary hype over the recent religious conversions in India. However, conversions are not new and have been happening in India for ages, so why this hue and cry now? If someone converts out of faith, it is a personal affair and he or she has every right do so. Yet, if it is done on a mass scale and out of force by allurement and inducement, then it becomes a competitive commercial venture. Since it is not faith-driven, such conversions are not long-lasting and are done purely to show arithmetical supremacy.
Giving undue publicity to it will only create a rift and antagonism in society. What difference does it make to a religion if a few hundred people get together and show the world that they are converting? Do the media and political parties who have made a big fuss about this even care to follow up on these people after their conversion? Do they practice the religion they just converted to or are they still practicing their religion from their pre-conversion period?
When the Indian opposition parties stalled both the houses of parliament, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the conversions, it only showed their immaturity and callous disregard for institutions. Besides the loss to exchequer, a huge amount of time was wasted, which should and could have been utilised to debate other issues affecting the people of country. The fact that the prime minister did not utter a statement does not mean that he is supportive of the conversions as some media personnel and political analysts claimed.
I remember how various parties back home would vie with each other to offer inducements to voters on election eve and ask them to vote for their particular party. In turn, voters would happily take everything and vote for a party that no one would know anything about. Similarly, forced conversions will not guarantee that the recipients of the benefits will follow or practice the religion that he or she is converting to.
- The reader is an Indian finance manager based in Dubai
