Maharashtra: ‘crypto-Christians’, Hindu nationalists’ latest phobia
In the state that includes Mumbai, the state government is targeting people who allegedly hide their conversion to Christianity to avoid losing benefits reserved for disadvantaged groups. The state legislature is expected to vet a new anti-conversion law in the coming winter session. The Church is against forced conversions,” said Card Gracias. For Fr Devasagaya Raj, crypto-Christians is a meaningless term. The real problem is discriminatory laws in a multicultural country.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – In the Indian state of Maharashtra, for several months the epicentre of the latest controversy over so-called forced conversions, a new group has been front-page news for the past few weeks, which Hindu nationalists derogatorily call "crypto Christians."
The latter allegedly conceal their conversion to Christianity to avoid losing the benefits guaranteed to them by law because they belong to one of the so-called Scheduled Castes/Backward Classes (SC/BC).
On Thursday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that anyone from a religion other than Hinduism, Buddhism, or Sikhism fraudulently obtains a certificate granting access to the reserved quotas provided by Indian law for Dalits and other historically marginalised groups, they would have their certificate revoked.
He added that the state government also intends to introduce stricter provisions to deal with cases of religious conversion through coercion or deception.
Fadnavis made these remarks in the state Legislative Assembly in response to a question by Amit Gorkhe, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, who claims that “crypto-Christians” are abusing religious freedom.
“On the face of it, they belong to Scheduled Castes (SC) and avail reservation benefits like government jobs and use it during elections, but they secretly follow different religions,” he said.
Fadnavis noted that the Supreme Court itself issued a ruling in November last year, stating that reservations should be available only to Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs.
“If anyone from religions other than Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs has availed an SC certificate or reservation, their validity certificate and caste certificate will be declared as cancelled,” he said.
The chief minister added that action can already be taken against them under the Indian Penal Code. “But a panel has been formed to suggest strict provisions. The government has plans to bring in strong provisions to deal with such cases and we will take a decision on this soon.’’
Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Home (Rural), Housing, School Education, Cooperation and Mining Pankaj Bhoyar announced that an anti-conversion bill will be introduced during the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Local BJP leader Chitra Wagh also weighed in on the debate, claiming that some women were tricked into marriage to "crypto-Christians"; he cited an alleged case in Sangli where a 28-year-old Hindu woman committed suicide after marrying a "crypto-Christian" whose family forced her to practise Christianity.
In the heated controversy sparked by this tragic case, BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar, during a public rally in Sangli district on 17 June, offered a reward of hundreds of thousands of rupees for acts of violence against Christian priests and missionaries involved in "forced conversions”.
“The Church is against forced conversions,” said Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop Emeritus of Mumbai, speaking to AsiaNews. “Conversions that are fraudulently carried out or forced are illicit. The church has a structured and lengthy period of preparation, which also involves stages of inquiry. Even as chancellor, I've given advisory to priests to carefully check genuine candidates”.
“The Chief Minister has acknowledged that a person can follow any religion and convert another person with consent, but the law does not permit the use of force, cheating or enticement for conversion,” the cardinal explained. “The Church has selflessly served to bring Gospel values and the principles of Jesus – principles of truth, justice, peace, and harmony, compassion, love and forgiveness.
“Our sympathies and condolences to the family of the young lady who took her life; it is absolutely wrong for anyone to force another to convert. It is just not correct, and should never be done.
“The Catholic Church is absolutely against forced conversions or any pressure to force a person to become a Christian or to change religion – it is a matter of conscience, a matter of conviction, it should be a sacred”.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Z. Devasagaya Raj, former secretary of the Office for Scheduled Castes/Backward Classes of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), condemned the use of the term "crypto-Christians”.
“The term Crypto Christians should not be used in any case. There are no such people called crypto-Christians. Either they are Christians or they belong to other religions,” he said. “These arguments rise because of the Article 340 paragraph three, which denies reservation [status] to Dalit Christians.”
For the clergyman, many have questioned this provision “since it is against freedom of religion and is discrimination on the basis of religion.
“While defining a Hindu, Article 25(2)( b) says that whoever is not Christian or a Muslim or Jewish or Parsi are Hindus, which include Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists. According to this definition, people who are atheists and don’t believe in any god are also categorised as Hindus.”
“In a multicultural country like ours, people go to churches, temples and mosques irrespective of their religion and attend prayers. That does not make them members of a particular religion.”
“Bringing such laws in Maharashtra will bring a lot of chaos and confusion,” Fr Devasagaya Raj warned. It “will diminish the interreligious relationship we have at present. It will bring an unhealthy situation among people of different religions.”
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