Conversions: Hindus in India do not seem to be particularly concerned about this

By NS Venkataraman*
Millions of Hindus who lived in the past and who live at present time have been believing that philosophy and way of life enunciated by Hindu religion and enriched by Vedas , Upanishad and Bhagawad Gita and thoughts lucidly explained by great Hindu scholars like Adi Sankara, Ramanuja and others can never become extinct in the world and therefore, there is no need for defending Hinduism at any time. This belief has brought great qualities of tolerance amongst Hindus towards other religions . In such scenario, practitioners of Hindu religion have never attempted to convert those belonging to other religions to Hinduism. Of course, this is as it should be.
With the entry of Moghul rule in India several centuries back, large number of Hindus were systematically and forcefully converted to Islam and the rest of the Hindus never protested and not even took serious note of it. In the same way, when Europeans entered India and started ruling the country, millions of Hindus were systematically and cunningly converted into Christianity and again, the Hindus, by and large, never protested in any visible manner.
With Islam and Christianity firmly entrenched in India now and with their growing population, India, which has been considered as a Hindu country, has now become a secular country. Again, Hindus in India do not seem to be particularly concerned about this.
However, in recent years, one can clearly see that there has been aggressive campaign to convert Hindus to other religions by fair or foul methods, which are too visible and cannot be ignored anymore.
While such conversion attempts are continuing with no significant protest from the large section of Hindus , what one cannot miss is the hate campaign against Hindu religion that has been launched in recent years.
Such hate campaign against Hindu religion continues to remain strong and at disturbing level particularly in Tamil Nadu, amongst all other states in the country.
While the hate campaign has been there in Tamil Nadu for more than seven decades now, in the last eighteen months, after the new government assuming power in Tamil Nadu, the hate campaign is now continued with high level of intensity, focus and perhaps, with silent and tacit support from the political party presently ruling in Tamil Nadu.
The ongoing hate campaign is so vigorous that some hate campaigners with little knowledge of Hindu ethos have started questioning the existence of Hindu religion itself. They are saying in a notorious manner that there have been no Hindu religion in the distant past. Several misinterpretations are given to confuse and fool the gullible people.
What is very unfortunate is that the print and visual media in India, which are all the time looking for sensational and so called breaking news, without examining whether the news and events are absurd and news worthy,give huge publicity to hate campaigners and organize counter productive debates. As a result, the Hindu hate campaigners in Tamil Nadu have a field day with the media giving huge publicity to their baseless observations bordering on absurdity and in the process , even providing undeserved publicity to the motivated Hindu hate campaigners.
As the situation in Tamil Nadu has become now so serious that can erode the future base of Hindu religion in Tamil Nadu, there seem to be no alternative other than defending Hindu religion and Hindu way of life with high level of determination by Hindus in the state.
The Hindu hate campaigners in Tamil Nadu have temerity and arrogance to say that Thiruvalluvar , the great philosopher poet, was not Hindu and even removing sacred ash from the forehead of Vallalar , one of the greatest Hindu philosophers known to mankind. There have been huge interference in the affairs of Hindu temples by the present Tamil Nadu government , upsetting the rhythm in the Hindu rituals and with the government going to the extent of misusing the property and other possessions of Hindu temples as per their whims and fancies.
The essence of this article is to stress the fact that the Hindu religion now has to be defended, even as those belonging to Hindu religion should not attempt to convert people belonging to other religions to Hinduism.h
The hate campaigners against Hindu religion obviously think that Hindus would not react even to the extreme level of hate campaign . This confidence of Hindu hate mongers need to be punctured effectively.
---
*Trustee, Nandini Voice For The Deprived

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

Search This Blog