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Wanted : "Full-time missionaries for the progress of Hindu
religion... to work in the fields of propagation of religion;
health centres; orphanages; child-care centres; temples; youth
organisations; backwards areas..." and related jobs in
administration, accounts etc.
Aim: to fight "conversions through petro-dollars".
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has found a new campaign: to stop the
alleged forcible conversion of Hindus by Muslim and Christian
organisations. For this, the organisation plans to raise nothing
less than a 10,000-strong brigade of "professional Hindu
missionaries", to be readied in four years, starting from
Maharashtra.
If the organisation is to be believed, it is off to a flying start.
Over 40 applications have reportedly been received in less than a
week from Pune alone - "from well-educated youths ready to devote
one year of their lives to the cause of Hinduism"- in response to a
VHP advertisement in the party's mouthpieces, Vivek and Tarun
Bharat.
Maharashtra unit general secretary Arvind Harshe calls the campaign
a "well-studied and meticulously planned" nation-wide move to fight
"conversions through petrodollars".
The VHP, however, refuses to disclose how much the party itself is
spending on the "counter-campaign". Though the organisation says
it is banking on "sacrificial work" from cadres, its advertisement
does promise "the right compensation package".
Add to this plans to run schools, health centres and orphanages -a
la Christian and Muslim organisations it is targeting - and their
campaign runs into a hefty bill.
The advertisement itself is quite elaborate. Projected as an
exhortation by VHP supremo Ashok Singhal, it is accompanied by a
nearly 2,000-word article by Harshe explaining the need for the
campaign. Full of acerbic comments, few hard statistics and quotes
from Hindu leaders like Swami Vivekananda and Samarth Ramdas, it
blames the governments over the years for the injustices in and the
disintegration of the country.
In venting his ire at Christian and Muslim organisations, Harshe
doesn't even spare Mother Teresa who, he says, "has been conferred
the Bharat Ratna despite openly advocating against family
planning". He also accuses the Christian missionaries of
"exploiting poverty, disability and other weaknesses" to convert
the Hindus.
Though the plan has been in the pipeline for some time now, it was
apparently expedited on learning that an Islamic Parishad was
scheduled to be held at Bhatkal in Karnataka on April 3 and 4 on
the theme "Towards Islamisation of life". Moreover, the VHF, claims
state unit joint secretary Sharad Kunte, has done an "exhaustive
study" of the issue. He alleges that every year, over eight lakh
Hindus are converted almost evenly to Christianity and Islam. He
said that going by the VHP's claim, there are over 2,000 such
villagers where Rs 1,400 crore are being pumped annually by
"foreign nations".
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