BJP’s anti-conversion plank can prove costly in Christian-majority NE states

The BJP finds itself in a quandary in the North-East, caught between its Hindutva ideology and electoral realities.

The saffron party’s anti-conversion plank might bring it some political dividends in poll-bound Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, but the move is already proving to be a liability in the North East, where three Christian-majority states will also face elections this year.

Ahead of the 2024 general elections, the RSS-led Sangh Parivar has decided to give a major push to a demand to delist converted tribals from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. The campaign by the RSS-affiliate Janajati Suraksha Manch (JSM) allegedly triggered the recent attacks on Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region.

The Federal had reported on October 26 last year how Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA) and the Janajati Suraksha Manch (JSM) are planning build-ups to deny reservation benefits to tribals who have converted to non-Indic faiths.

In Karnataka, at least five Christians have been arrested on charges of forceful conversion ever since the state Legislative Assembly passed the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2022 in September last year.

A church in Karnataka’s Mysuru was vandalised a couple of days after Christmas as the minority community faced renewed ire from anti-conversion crusaders.

BJP under fire in NE

The attacks against churches and the Christian community, however, have put the BJP in a tight spot in the North East.

Apart from church bodies and opposition parties, the BJP has come under fire for its alleged anti-conversion drive even from its political allies, forcing it to make some conciliatory gestures in the North East.

Church bodies in the region took serious exception to the attacks and the so-called anti-conversion drive and even questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “deafening silence” on the attacks.

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The United Christian Forum of North East India said the allegations of forced conversions against churches were “false” and were intended to malign the community and divide the society.

“Alarming news being spread about conversion has caused us great anxiety,” said the forum’s spokesperson Allen Brooks in a press release.

The Khasi Jaintia Christian Leaders Forum (KJCLF) in a recent statement said the “deafening silence of the Prime Minister on atrocities against Christians over a long period of time in different parts of the country is significantly notable.”

The Catholic Association of Shillong dubbed the Assam Police’s December 16 letter as “very alarming in nature, particularly towards Christian minorities in the state (Assam)”.

Allies wary of Hindutva agenda

The ire of the churches could be politically costly for the BJP ahead of the February-March elections in Nagaland and Meghalaya, and the November-December elections in Mizoram. Christians comprise over 70 per cent of the population in these three states.

“The anti-Christian tirades of the saffron brigade in the name of anti-conversion will make it difficult for the BJP to further expand its footprints in the Christian-dominated states of the region,” said a Nagaland-based political commentator and author, Francis Kikon.

Of the north-eastern states, the BJP now heads governments in Assam, where Christians make up only 3.74 per cent of the population, Tripura with 4.35 per cent Christians, Arunachal Pradesh with 30.26 per cent, and Manipur with 41.29 per cent of Christians.

The BJP is an alliance partner of the ruling dispensations in Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. The allies are increasingly becoming wary of the BJP’s Hindutva agenda.

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Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma strongly condemned the attacks on Christians and demanded that it be immediately stopped. Sangma is an important leader of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance.

However, of late, relations between Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) and the BJP have been strained for various reasons, including the BJP’s saffron hue.

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the ruling party of Nagaland and another BJP ally, too, is uncomfortable with the recent developments involving the Christian community.

“The secular fabric of India should be upheld at any cost,” NDPP president Chingwang Konyak told The Federal without accusing any outfit for the attacks on Christians.

“Definitely we will raise the issue as and when the meeting of the NEDA is convened. But I don’t want to publicly discuss the issue right now,” he added.

BJP’s balancing act

Facing the heat, the BJP is now desperately trying to do a balancing act, toning down its anti-conversion rhetoric in the North East.

The BJP-led Assam government recently made a U-turn from its anti-conversion drive, distancing itself from the order issued by the Superintendent of Police (SP), Special Branch, seeking information about religious conversion and the number of churches in the state.

“I completely disassociate myself from the letter issued by the SP. It (the order) was unwarranted,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told newspersons in the wake of the controversy over the order.

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He went on to add that seeking such sensitive information would hurt the sentiments of a particular religious community and, hence, should be avoided.

Stating that he was not aware of the contents of the letter, Sarma said the matter was also not discussed at any government forum.

Foreigners’ detention and deportation

The SP’s letter, however, cannot be seen in isolation, as it came close on the heels of recent detention and deportation of ten European visitors in the state on charges of taking part in “religious activities” visiting India on tourist visas.

To take part in missionary activities, the foreigners need to procure an M1 or missionary visa.

The Assam Police detained seven Germans on October 28 and three Swedish nationals on October 23 last year for “indulging in religious activities in violation of visa norms.”

The detainees, as well as church organisations, rubbished the Assam Police’s claim. One of the detained German nationals told a Guwahati-based local television channel that they had merely “visited churches and celebrated with fellow Christians” and were not “spreading any Gospel.”

“The Assam government’s claim is ridiculous. If a Hindu visits a temple in a Christian or a Muslim-majority country, will that be tantamount to propagating Hinduism. This (Assam Police’s action) is nothing but an attempt to suppress religious rights of the minorities in the state,” Kikon alleged.

“Just because some foreigners came to Assam and took part in a prayer service doesn’t mean locals are being converted,” Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati told the Union of Catholic Asian news (UCAN).

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In the wake of the arrests of the foreign nationals, the Assam Special DGP (Law and Order) GP Singh had said a crackdown was ordered against religious proselytization activities in the state. Incidentally, Assam does not have an anti-conversion law though many Hindu-right groups are pushing for it in the state.

“We have directed superintendents of police of all districts to keep a tab on places wherever such religious activities are taking place where visiting foreigners are participating and whether they have the appropriate visas. The SPs have been instructed to ensure that under no circumstance, a foreigner can take part in religious conversion activities even if the person is carrying a missionary visa,” Singh was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Against the backdrop of the Assam government’s recent crackdown against foreign nationals and the Hindutva brigade’s anti-conversion push elsewhere in the country, it is difficult to delink Sarma’s recent remarks on police directive from the BJP’s political realism in North East.