Opinion

Religious conversions play havoc with Hindus’ ties with Christians & Muslims

Rising proselytization efforts deepen religious divides and strain interfaith relations in India

August 13, 2025

Conversion drive intensifies religious fault lines in India

The churches in India, aided by their faithful laity, are spreading the news across the world—especially in Europe, the USA, Australia, and Africa—that Christians are not safe in the subcontinent.

“Indian Christians’ trust in the government has become shaky in the wake of increased attacks on Christians and members of the clergy,” said Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, the most powerful Church leader. Speaking to the press, this former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India declared that religious conversion and evangelization are the birthright of the Church, and there is no question of going backward from it.

“The Constitution of India has granted us the right to practice, profess, and propagate religion. This includes the right to proselytize also, and nobody can prevent us from evangelizing the country,” said the Cardinal, whose hostility toward Hindus is well known.

The Cardinal, who has the full attention of the Pope, was reacting to the arrest of two Christian nuns in Chhattisgarh for religious conversion by force and human trafficking. The nuns, Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis—well-known evangelizers who have converted thousands of tribals to the Church—hail from Kerala. This led to the Congress, CPI(M), Muslim League, and the CPI coming together to declare full support for the nuns.

Though the Cardinal claims that the Constitution offers them full freedom and the right to evangelize India, Article 25 of the Constitution of India states: “Subject to public order, morality and health and the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.”

It is important to note that the Constitution has not granted any explicit right to evangelize India. The Cardinal and his followers are misinterpreting the Constitution. They have the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion, but they do not have the right to proselytize or convert people from one religion to another. Since the Congress, Communists, Muslim leaders, and secularists are either ignorant of the Constitution or choose to ignore it, they simply follow the narrative of the “Maa, Betta, and Betti” trio and create panic among people.

Have you noticed that Hindu monks and spiritual leaders never try to convert people from other religions to Sanatana Dharma? This is because they are well-versed in the Constitution of India. Minority leaders, on the other hand, are aware of their rights but feign ignorance about their duties and responsibilities.

The bishops, archbishops, and cardinals created a furor when the “princesses of proselytization” were arrested. But they remained silent when it was reported that a Christian girl, Sona Kuriakose from Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district, committed suicide following physical and mental torture inflicted by Rameez, her lover, and his family members. They had wanted the girl to convert to Islam before Rameez would marry her. Though she had reservations about converting, she reluctantly agreed, as she believed no one else would marry her, given her relationship history. According to her family members, she was asked to go to Ponnani in Malappuram district for indoctrination as a “true Muslim.” She resisted, as the process would take two months.

Rameez, wanting to get rid of her, told her she was free to commit suicide. Sona wrote in her purported suicide note that Rameez gave her the “green signal” to take the extreme step—and he obliged.

Notably, conversion to Christianity in India received a major boost following the election of US-born Robert Francis Prevost as the new Pope (Leo XIV) in May 2025. Prevost, during his missionary work in Peru, converted hundreds of thousands to Christianity. After his coronation, he declared that terms like nationalism had no meaning and instructed leaders of the Roman Catholic Church to intensify religious conversion in their respective countries.

Moreover, the churches are struggling to get young recruits to work as nuns to serve priests, bishops, and archbishops. This has pushed them to expand “harvesting of souls” and reach the unreached. India offers fertile ground for recruiting girls to be trained as nuns. The first edition of Tehelka weekly, launched in 2004, reported unprecedented levels of conversion in India. According to the cover story in its inaugural issue (February 7, 2004), 10,000 people were converted to Christianity every day in India. This number has since increased manifold as the number of pastors has grown. Evangelization has been further boosted by 24/7 Church-funded channels promoting “miracle cures” and “musical crusades.” Tehelka eventually shut down due to the scandal involving its chief editor.

Religious conversion has been a major issue in India for the last three to four centuries. The Abrahamic religions—Christianity and Islam—are the two main aggressors. This has led to Hindus losing trust in both. However, Hindus generally have no issues with Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, and Zoroastrians. In fact, many express concern about the declining population of these communities in India.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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