Ghar Wapsi: Punjab fights conversions & reconversions

HOSHIARPUR: Rajbir Singh, a 36-year-old Mazhabi Sikh of Dasuya, has all the passion of a neo-convert. He says he returned to his faith from Christianity with the help of the RSS affiliate Dharam Jagran Samanvay Vibhag, which is spearheading the socalled ghar wapsi or homecoming programme in Punjab.

Singh’s family is among the nearly 400 Christian families that were “reconverted” to Mazhabi Sikhs by the vibhag, which claims to have brought more than 17,000 people in the state back into the fold of Hinduism, mainly from Christianity, over the past year.

On Tuesday, the vibhag “reconverted” 128 Mazhabi Sikhs who had embraced Christianity, after a similar exercise involving over 250 families about three months ago. These families were handed over to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) after performing religious ceremony in gurdwaras.

“My family was promised financial assistance including quality education to my son in a missionary school. But when I realised that our gurus were being insulted, I decided to return” Singh told ET.

The others who have participated in the ghar wapsi programme across the state have similar things to say.

Gurmeet Kaur, an 46-year-old resident of Gurdaspur, says free medical treatment of her ailing husband enticed her to embrace Christianity. “I was cheated into it. It was a mistake,” says Kaur, who gave up Christianity after 27 years. Among those who have been embraced Hinduism, mostly as Balmikis but also a few Brahmins, a 34-year-old house painter had practised Christianity all his life until last month, when members of the vibhag “enlightened” him that he was actually a Hindu and that he needed a course correction.

The house painter, who did not wish to reveal his name, was a “victim” according to the vibhag, whose members say they have hit upon a solution to locate the original caste of such people.

“In most cases, the victims know their origin. In case of a dispute, our followers approach their neighbours and relatives to ascertain their original caste. It is only after carrying a detailed recce that we bring them back to their original caste,” said Manoj Sharma, district president of the organisation which is perceived as RSS’ youth wing in the state.