Ghar Wapsi:A Modern Hindu Conversion Movement

The "ghar wapsi"(return home)movement is carried out by Hindu nationalist driven by the purpose of making India into a Hindu Rashtra,by converting some Christians and Muslims in India into Hindus,the "ghar wapsi" movement is a product of a mixture of Hindu nationalist politics and modern Hindu reform.In the view of Hindu nationalists,these Christians and Muslims are descendants of Hindus and converted to Christianity or Islam due to external factors.Therefore,changing the religious beliefs of these "former Hindus"into Hinduism is but "ghar wapsi"(let them go back home)in the religious sense.Moreover,this kind of religious activity with political complexion helps increase the Hindu population,thus facilitates the construction of a Hindu Rashtra(Hindu nation)dominated by Hindus,an idea cherished by Hindu nationalists.Based on the primary sources,this paper first analyzes the ideological basis of the "ghar wapsi" movement in the two aspects of Hindu reform and the construction of Hindu nation and state.It also traces the how the "shuddhi" movement led by Arya Samaj evolved into the Hindu nationalists’ "ghar wapsi" movement.This paper further analyzes four selected cases and studies the social,economic,and cultural development of areas affected by "ghar wapsi" movement,the target population,core organizations and how the activities were carried out.This paper summarizes the characteristics of the "ghar wapsi" movement and its impact on India’s religion and society.And also,it studies how Hindu nationalists promote the construction of Hindu nation state through the "ghar wapsi" movement,and how the movement further influenced Hindu nationalists.There weren’t particular doctrines or rituals related to religious conversion in the Hindu tradition.The thoughts and practice of the "ghar wapsi" movement can be traced back to Arya Samaj,the modern Hindu reform organization that took the lead in the religious conversion activities.In the second half of the 19th century,facing the problem of increasing numbers of Hindus converting to other religions,Christianity in particular,which spread rapidly after British colonization in particular,Arya Samaj launched the "shuddhi"movement that is rooted in the nationalist and revivalist religious reform advocated by its founder Dayananda Saraswati.The "shuddhi" movement reformed the rituals and concepts of atonement,purification and initiation in Hinduism,and formed the ideas and practices that can serve religious conversion activities.At the beginning,the "shuddhi" movement was mainly aimed at the Hindus who violated the religious rules.Later,promoted by the radicals in Arya Samaj,it began to attract some Muslims to convert to Hinduism.In the first half of the 20th century,Hindu nationalists such as Vinayak Damodar Savakar and Madhava Sadashiva Golwalkar put forward the political proposition of making India a Hindu state based on common history,blood and culture from the core concept of Hindutva ideology.This somehow sectarian view confronts the claim to establish a separate state for Indian Muslims,and was for a period of time marginalized in India,which had suffered from partition and upheld secular and multicultural ideologies.In the 1980s,Sangh Parivar,a group of Hindu nationalist organizations evolved around Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh became active again.After the mass conversion of thousands of Dalits to Islam in 1981,the "ghar wapsi" movement which integrated political claim and religious activities rose.Under the guidance of Hindutva ideology,Sangh Parivar set the establishment of a Hindu nation state as its goal,and actively promoted the "ghar wapsi" movement in Uttar Pradesh,Orissa,Bihar,Kerala and Gujarat etc..Together with its affiliated organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad,Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram and Hindu Jagran Manch,Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is committed to converting Christian tribes,Christian dalits,muslim low and high castes people back to HinduismThe "ghar wapsi" movement is a movement with both political and religious overtones.In the development process of the "ghar wapsi" movement,Sangh Parivar continuously optimizes its methods by learning preaching manners of other religions and finally forms its own multi-pronged model,which includes establishing organizational network,carrying out welfare activities,promoting religious history and conversion ceremony activities of "ghar wapsi".At the same time,the "ghar wapsi" movement led by Sangh Parivar is also tinged with violence and coercion.There were attacks on Christian missionaries and pressure on Christians and Muslims to push them to convert.In order to restrict the missionary activities of Christianity and Islam,Sangh Parivar also actively promote the conduct of relevant legislation.Cadres of Sangh Parivar go deep into remote areas such as villages and tribe areas to engage in propaganda and organization construction,which promote the construction of the cadre team of Sangh Parivar.These measures not only change the form of modern Hindu religion to a certain extent,but also,in turn,further shape Hindu nationalism.