A few days ago Rajnath Singh, India's home minister tweeted a series of tweets about religious conversion in India. He tweeted "Can social service not be performed in India without resorting to conversion?" and in another tweet "Why cant all religions prosper without promoting conversion in India?" and "How can a country like India allow changes in its demographic profile and character?". I don't have any problem with this line of argument. Religion at a community level is about identity and culture and no country would like to lose its identity and culture. But the thing is is conversion really changing the demographic profile of India? The data seems to suggest not.
The Christian population in India was 2% in 1951, it reached a high of 2.60% in 1970; after that it has fluctuated and reached 2.5% in 2011 which is the latest census figure we have. So the Christian population has gone up marginally by 0.5% in 60 years. Clearly it doesn't look like there is any danger of change in demographic profile of India through conversion since the Christians are the most active religious group in conversion. Muslim population has increased by 5% in 60 years but that is based on high birth rates of Muslims as majority of them tend to live in poorer backward states with high birth rate and because of migration from Bangladesh. And recent tweets of Rajnath Singh inspecting Bangla border seem to suggest that he is on the job on that front.
On twitter I have seen many reports shared of missionaries and proselytizers bragging about how they have saved the soul of millions of people or how they have introduced Jesus to so many millions or how they have built so many number of churches, but the fact remains that in the past 60 years overall population of Christians in India hasn't changed much. So clearly these people are just bragging like you do in propaganda to rally your troops or to attract donations. Whatever be the case the right wing organizations in India like RSS, VHP etc need to not waste their time and effort behind the bogey of conversion and in re-conversions. They may claim that it is because of their efforts that major demographic shift hasn't happened already but I don't think that is true as they haven't been so active in the past. Instead they can spend their time and effort in many other ways that would genuinely help Hindus, BJP and India as a whole.
For example, I am really happy that VHP has recently launched a new campaign to end caste bias and untouchability. If it succeeds, this can make a huge difference in lives of millions of people. It can unlock the growth potential of hinterlands and large swaths of country and millions would prosper because of it. It can change the political and economic scenario of India. And this would also remove the primary cause for conversion.
There are many such areas where large RW organizations with their huge volunteer base and resources can make a huge difference. For example in education we not only have a high drop out ratio of both boys and girls but those who are in school also do not get a quality education. Studies have shown that in govt. schools many students in 5th, 6th, 7th grade are unable to read and write at the level of 2nd grade. Studies by NGOs like Pratham have shown that just a basic one to two hour coaching in the evening after school can make a dramatic difference in learning outcomes. And every year's worth of education and delaying drop out rate increases by few percent the amount of money the child will earn later in his life every year. So just few hours of effort can change the entire outcome of the life of a child.
In health there are numerous such things that can be done that change millions of lives. For example ensuring all the children in the villages get all the essential vaccines. Studies have shown that the health and diet of mother during pregnancy and the first year of child can dramatically alter child's mental and physical development and his earning capacity throughout his life. Female cadres can assure good nutrition and health of mother and child by advising on diet and nutrition and taking the mother and child for hospital visits. They can teach the benefits of having hospital birth and how to maintain good reproductive health. They can explain and teach about kinds of family planning methods and why it is important. There are just hundreds of things like hygiene, water borne diseases, malaria, etc that even a non-trained person can teach about. These things can bring about a huge change in the quality of life of people in rural area.
They can also help teach different farming techniques and share knowledge gained from elsewhere. They can organize villagers and teach them to build small check dams and water storage facilities like wells and artificial lake etc.
They can participate in swacch bharat and clean important public places in cities like railway stations, public hospitals, etc.
For an economy to grow it requires capital, land and labor. Modi with his foreign trips and making right climate for investment is trying to facilitate capital for investment, his land bill is to take care of land issues. The RW groups by focusing on health, education of people can facilitate labor, the vital ingredient for growth. And most importantly it will repel perception that Modi govt. is not pro-poor. Because trying to help people by creating jobs might seem like too indirect for most rural people. They need direct immediate help and that's where these RW organizations can make a huge difference.
This way RW groups can bring change personally in the lives of millions of people, help the nation grow and ensure BJP victory in upcoming state and national elections. We will need healthy educated populous for economic growth and we will need rapid economic growth to repel any external threat we may face. Or the RW groups can just keep fighting imaginary threats within India and keep reveling in 2000 year old real or imagined past glories of India rather than working to make India glorious now and in future.
Jai Hind.
The Christian population in India was 2% in 1951, it reached a high of 2.60% in 1970; after that it has fluctuated and reached 2.5% in 2011 which is the latest census figure we have. So the Christian population has gone up marginally by 0.5% in 60 years. Clearly it doesn't look like there is any danger of change in demographic profile of India through conversion since the Christians are the most active religious group in conversion. Muslim population has increased by 5% in 60 years but that is based on high birth rates of Muslims as majority of them tend to live in poorer backward states with high birth rate and because of migration from Bangladesh. And recent tweets of Rajnath Singh inspecting Bangla border seem to suggest that he is on the job on that front.
On twitter I have seen many reports shared of missionaries and proselytizers bragging about how they have saved the soul of millions of people or how they have introduced Jesus to so many millions or how they have built so many number of churches, but the fact remains that in the past 60 years overall population of Christians in India hasn't changed much. So clearly these people are just bragging like you do in propaganda to rally your troops or to attract donations. Whatever be the case the right wing organizations in India like RSS, VHP etc need to not waste their time and effort behind the bogey of conversion and in re-conversions. They may claim that it is because of their efforts that major demographic shift hasn't happened already but I don't think that is true as they haven't been so active in the past. Instead they can spend their time and effort in many other ways that would genuinely help Hindus, BJP and India as a whole.
For example, I am really happy that VHP has recently launched a new campaign to end caste bias and untouchability. If it succeeds, this can make a huge difference in lives of millions of people. It can unlock the growth potential of hinterlands and large swaths of country and millions would prosper because of it. It can change the political and economic scenario of India. And this would also remove the primary cause for conversion.
There are many such areas where large RW organizations with their huge volunteer base and resources can make a huge difference. For example in education we not only have a high drop out ratio of both boys and girls but those who are in school also do not get a quality education. Studies have shown that in govt. schools many students in 5th, 6th, 7th grade are unable to read and write at the level of 2nd grade. Studies by NGOs like Pratham have shown that just a basic one to two hour coaching in the evening after school can make a dramatic difference in learning outcomes. And every year's worth of education and delaying drop out rate increases by few percent the amount of money the child will earn later in his life every year. So just few hours of effort can change the entire outcome of the life of a child.
In health there are numerous such things that can be done that change millions of lives. For example ensuring all the children in the villages get all the essential vaccines. Studies have shown that the health and diet of mother during pregnancy and the first year of child can dramatically alter child's mental and physical development and his earning capacity throughout his life. Female cadres can assure good nutrition and health of mother and child by advising on diet and nutrition and taking the mother and child for hospital visits. They can teach the benefits of having hospital birth and how to maintain good reproductive health. They can explain and teach about kinds of family planning methods and why it is important. There are just hundreds of things like hygiene, water borne diseases, malaria, etc that even a non-trained person can teach about. These things can bring about a huge change in the quality of life of people in rural area.
They can also help teach different farming techniques and share knowledge gained from elsewhere. They can organize villagers and teach them to build small check dams and water storage facilities like wells and artificial lake etc.
They can participate in swacch bharat and clean important public places in cities like railway stations, public hospitals, etc.
For an economy to grow it requires capital, land and labor. Modi with his foreign trips and making right climate for investment is trying to facilitate capital for investment, his land bill is to take care of land issues. The RW groups by focusing on health, education of people can facilitate labor, the vital ingredient for growth. And most importantly it will repel perception that Modi govt. is not pro-poor. Because trying to help people by creating jobs might seem like too indirect for most rural people. They need direct immediate help and that's where these RW organizations can make a huge difference.
This way RW groups can bring change personally in the lives of millions of people, help the nation grow and ensure BJP victory in upcoming state and national elections. We will need healthy educated populous for economic growth and we will need rapid economic growth to repel any external threat we may face. Or the RW groups can just keep fighting imaginary threats within India and keep reveling in 2000 year old real or imagined past glories of India rather than working to make India glorious now and in future.
Jai Hind.
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