Vasundhara Jairath
The outbreak of communal violence in Kandhamal has sparked off a debate on the question of religious conversion. On the one hand, census figures are being dug out to portray the ‘danger’ of the increase in percentage of Christian population and of the fast pace of conversion taking place specifically in Kandhamal, holding the strong presence of the Church responsible for this. On the other hand, progressives attempt to explain the conversions in light of the otherwise abysmal conditions and extreme poverty that large parts of the Dalit and Adivasi population live in, with the Church intervening where the State has given up all responsibilities. The debate, however, begs a befitting question. Why does conversion matter?
The Sangh Parivar rose to power in the 1980s raking up the issue of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, seeing to it that the whole country began to debate whether or not it could be proved that Ram was born at the very spot where Babri Masjid stood. Today, it has seen to it that the whole country is engaged in the debate of whether or not the means used by missionaries to convert people to Christianity are legal or illegal. And this, while this same country chooses without debate and discussion to unite in the face of the Mumbai Terror and condemn the
violence.
Conversion matters when votes are sought on religious lines. Conversion is a threat when communities are mobilized on a religious
basis. And to preoccupy ourselves with the debate around conversion is to play right into the hands of those that fan communal tension.
