Rajnath Singh is not talking about controlling what religions or belief system one is allowed to follow. But his concern is about 'mass' conversion rallies by the 'organized' groups that convert people on an industrial scale.
Why is this even an issue ?
People convert for all sorts of reasons; monetary incentives, the promise of a better future, philosophical consonance with a belief system or emotional fulfillment in believing in something - I don't think that a State - any state - ought to concern herself with this too much otherwise it may set a dangerous precedent by allowing a given State to appropriate greater rights for herself in the future by taking further rights from the 'individual' and giving it to the 'society' !
- In India -
which has gone through a painful partition that solely based on religion - it should be plainly clear for everybody to see the risks of changing the demographics in an organized manner! Of all people, Pakistanis should know that religion can be easily politicized and a country can be partitioned solely based one's religion! How are we to know that these newly 'enlightened' will not demand a separate country just like Pakistan or present day 'Kashmir' or South Sudan?
- Often the conversions are based on not just the monetary incentives but also preceded by inaccurate/incomplete portrayals that expertly highlight only the bad things about their original belief system while only emphasizing the positive things their new adapted belief system is supposed to bring. Don't you think such portrayals vitiate the atmosphere in a diverse, vastly poor, illiterate and communally charged country like India?
- Don't those monetary incentives sound like exploitation based on poverty, ignorance or social status? And how is it even fair that the new religions which not only fail offer permanent solutions to their problems but also import new set of problems and conflicts, is allowed to prey upon the gullible? Do we want to borrow the kind of conflicts in Middle East which is where these 'enlightened' religions originated?
- India is an extremely diverse country when it comes to language, religion, society and beliefs. An 'organized' conversion mega rally by those with resources not only destroy that diversity but disturbs the balance that is already precarious!
- When you consider that the fodder for these conversions are mainly Hindus/Buddhists and that some religions (islam for example) threaten those who convert out their followers to other religions, and back their threats with murders if necessary, how is it even fair that state allow such conversions in the first place?
I think in Pakistan we made the same mistake by allowing the Orthodoxy a greater say in whatever religious imprint they wanted to have over governance and legislation while at the same time ignoring the Progressive elements from the same religious circles because the former was exponentially more vocal and organized than the latter. Ironically enough most of these Orthodox elements like the Majlis-i-Ahrar who became the champions of an Islamic State - as they envisioned it to be in their parochial view - were ferociously against the creation of Pakistan to begin with.
I am not sure if you are being serious here because we are not even talking about the same thing! What the right-wing groups in India are opposing is the conversions of Hindus (majority religion) to other (minority) religions. And we all know what punishment is given out to people indulging in such conversions of muslims to other religions in Pakistan as stated by constitution. And I am not even talking about the mob justice!
Religion (like anything else) should have a positive and inclusive impression on a State's culture and values. If it starts having an exclusive, reactionary and divisive effect you end with the states that Pakistan and India find themselves. No wonder as per PEW social hostility involving religion index we have found ourselves in the top 10 most socially hostile states with respect to religion for the past decade.
What do you think
@scorpionx ?
I think I am all for everybody freedom to follow any religion that he/she 'personally' believes in - not 'revealed' to by some foreigners in rallies intended to convert people on industrial scales! What happens in India is sheer exploitation by nefarious NGO's with backing from rich countries - Arab/Vatican - trying to get as many memberships as possible with their resourceful and sophisticated conversion machinery! Very similar to what happened (and continues to happen) to Native Africans/Americans - both in north and south. And we all know how 'enlightened' those countries are after the missionaries had a free-for-all!
In other words, it is not conversion for the purpose of upliftment, but conversion for the purpose of religious 'politics'.