NGOs have been in the news for several reasons in recent weeks. From the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister and former RSS pracharak Narendra Modi described the RSS as "the world's largest NGO." The claim raises an interesting question. The RSS, which describes itself as a cultural organization, is not registered as an NGO. Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge recently called for the RSS to register itself. The organization responded that it is merely an association of individuals and therefore does not require registration. If that is so, questions naturally arise about the substantial funds it receives and the transparency of their management.
At another level, the Union Home Ministry has introduced fresh amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), seeking to impose further . The ruling establishment has repeatedly suggested that Christian NGOs are engaged in forcible religious conversions. According to this narrative, the educational and healthcare services run by Christian institutions constitute "allurement" intended to induce conversion to Christianity.
How far does this claim stand up to scrutiny?
Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees every citizen the fundamental right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion. Those advocating anti-conversion laws argue that while the Constitution protects the right to propagate one's faith, it does not grant the right to convert another person. This interpretation assumes that conversions take place only through force or inducement, effectively denying the agency of individuals who choose to change their religion voluntarily.
Significantly, there is little empirical evidence to support the widespread allegations of forced or induced conversions. There are no comprehensive ground-level studies showing how many students educated in Christian missionary institutions convert to Christianity. Nor is there reliable data demonstrating that Dalits or Adivasis embrace Christianity because of force or material inducements.
Christianity has been present in India for nearly two millennia. According to one tradition, St. Thomas arrived in India in AD 52, established Christian communities and built churches. Whatever the precise historical details, Christianity is undoubtedly one of India's oldest religions.
Demographic data also contradict the rhetoric of mass conversions. According to the 2011 Census, Christians constitute 2.3 percent of India's population. In fact, the Christian share of the population has either remained stable or declined over the decades: 2.60 percent in 1971, 2.44 percent in 1981, 2.34 percent in 1991, and 2.30 percent in both 2001 and 2011. These figures hardly support claims of large-scale conversions.
Yet the propaganda around forcible and induced conversions has fuelled repeated episodes of anti-Christian violence. One of the most horrific incidents occurred in Manoharpur, Keonjhar district, Odisha, in January 1999, when Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons were burnt alive while sleeping in their vehicle. Dara Singh (Rajendra Singh Pal), associated with the Bajrang Dal, was convicted and is serving a life sentence for the crime. Then President K. R. Narayanan described the murders as a barbaric act belonging "to the world's inventory of black deeds."
The Wadhwa Commission, appointed to investigate the killings, found no evidence that Graham Staines had been engaged in conversion activities. Instead, it concluded that he had devoted himself to serving leprosy patients.
Equally revealing was the demographic data from Keonjhar district. According to the Commission, the district had a population of approximately 15.3 lakh, of whom Christians numbered only 4,707. In the 1991 Census, there had already been 4,112 Christians in the district. Thus, over the intervening period, the Christian population had increased by only 595 people—an increase too small to support allegations of aggressive missionary conversion.
The pattern was repeated elsewhere. The Dangs district of Gujarat and Kandhamal in Odisha witnessed intense campaigns by organizations affiliated with the Sangh Parivar. Leaders such as Swami Aseemanand and Swami Laxmanananda established ashrams in these tribal regions, accompanied by sustained propaganda about conversions. These campaigns culminated in large-scale communal violence, most notably the Kandhamal violence of 2008. Even today, Christian pastors working in remote areas often face harassment. Routine prayer meetings are portrayed as conversion drives, leading to attacks by vigilante groups.
One of the BJP-RSS's leading ideologues, Ram Madhav, recently defended the new FCRA amendments by invoking the Niyogi Committee Report of 1956. Writing in The Indian Express (June 27, 2026), he argued that while the Nehru government chose not to implement the Committee's recommendations, Prime Minister Modi is now doing so.
The Niyogi Committee, constituted by the Madhya Pradesh government, investigated Christian missionary activities and concluded that conversions often occurred through inducements such as education and medical services. It also expressed the apprehension that foreign missionary networks could foster separatist tendencies. However, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the Committee's recommendations because they conflicted with the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, particularly the right to propagate one's faith.
Ram Madhav also invokes Mahatma Gandhi's views on proselytisation. It is true that Gandhi expressed reservations about conversion through material inducements. However, it is misleading to suggest that he opposed freedom of religion or voluntary conversion.
A frequently cited interview published in The Hindu on March 22, 1931, selectively quotes Gandhi as saying that if missionaries continued "proselytising by means of medical aid, education etc., I would certainly ask them to withdraw." What is often omitted is Gandhi's immediate clarification. He wrote: "This is what the reporter has put in my mouth... All that I can say is that it is a travesty of what I have always said and held."
Gandhi went on to state unequivocally: "I am, then, not against conversion." He acknowledged that every nation regards its own faith as valuable while also recognising Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Zoroastrianism as living religions deserving equal respect. Gandhi opposed coercion and inducement, not the individual's freedom of conscience.
The ideological position advanced by sections of the Sangh Parivar continues to portray Christianity as a foreign religion spread primarily through force and allurement. Historical evidence, demographic data and constitutional principles tell a very different story. Christianity has been an integral part of India's civilisational landscape for centuries. The persistent campaign portraying social service as a conspiracy for conversion rests not on evidence but on ideological prejudice. It is this misconception that continues to fuel suspicion, discrimination and violence against Christian institutions and communities.
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*Well known political analyst
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