Seventy-six Christians from 21 poor tribal families have been forcibly reconverted to Hinduism in the Indian state of Odisha, local sources told World Watch Monitor.
Attacks on Indian Christians were reported on an almost daily basis in 2015. These included the arrest of hundreds who were charged with attempting to forcibly convert Hindus.
Y. Raghavulu, national general secretary of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (Hindu World Council), claimed in January that 800,000 Hindus were being converted to other faiths every year in India.
Meanwhile Praveen Togadia, VHP’s international working president, said that the organisation had reconverted more than 500,000 Christians and 250,000 Muslims in the past decade with its Ghar Wapsi, or homecoming, initiative.
John Dayal, a Christian activist, said “Hindu fundamentalists want to criminalise Christian presence and social work as a conversion conspiracy by Western powers”. But, he added, no such measure is taken against Hindus attempting to reconvert Christians.
The United Christian Forum has commissioned a 24-hour National Helpline, 1-800-208-4545, so that Christians can report incidents.
