Description
An illuminating and compelling collection of essays by leading secular scholars, who forensically analyse the Hindu nationalist campaign of alleged ‘home-coming’ to reconvert persons of disadvantaged castes and tribes, whose ancestors had abandoned the Hindu failh in search of elusive social equality.
Harsh Mander
Writer, Activist
I know I am home – in my identity as an India-born Indian citizen, as a Christian and professing the ideology that I do. Dr. Ram Puniyani’s book explains in clinical but easy language the political motive behind the Hindutva 1’arivars malevolent and aggressive campaign which targets Muslims and Christians in various parts of India, and specially Tribals and Dalits, in the name of Char Wapsi. An important work, perhaps the first comprehensive look at this dangerous phenomenon. And a Must read.
John Dayal
Ghar Wapsi,Conversions andFreedom of Religion edited by Ram Puniyani is an absorbing and brilliant scholarly work on the Hindutva fraternity’s polarizing agenda of religious conversions. Twelve scholars and activists discuss the issue in its historical perspective and help the reader to understand the politics of conversions which is made to be a religious issue by its Hindutva perpetrators. The book contains valuable historical material on the subject thus making it important book of reference and a complete book on the subject.
Shamsul Islam
Writer, Academic
‘The autonomy of an individual to renounce the faith s/he was born in or accept any alternative have been found to be highly subversive and destabilising to the world view of Hindutva. It’s anxities around this aspect have been visible since colonial times. If it was ‘Shuddhikaran’ then today it revolves around ‘Ghar wapasi’.
The present volume edited by Ram Puniyani comprising of contributions from leading scholars and activists is a timely intervention around the unfolding debate which deals with different dimensions of the subject’
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Introduction.
Section A
Islam and Christianity in India
1 Ghar Wapsi, Christianity and Freedom of Religion
Ram Pmiyani
I Prelude
II Christianity in India
III Anti-Christian Violence: The pattern
IV Hindutva and Anti-Christian Violence
V Inquiry Committee Reports
VI Odisha: The Boiling Cauldron
VII Conversions
VIII Gandhi on Conversions
IX Legal Dilemmas: Constituent Assembly
Debates on Conversions
X Reconversions: Ghar Wapsi
XI RSS and Ghar Wapsi: Forcible Conversions
XII Conversions: Cultural Co-option
XIII Conclusion
Bibliography.
2 Conversion to Islam
D. Gnaniah
3 Anti-Muslim Violence.
Ram Punijani
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