The conversion issue

[Partha Banerjee]

I agree with Prof. Nayak.

It is important to know WHY so many Hindus converted to other religions
over the centuries. Is it only because of coercion as some want us to
believe or is it that conversion took place because a large section of the
so-called low-caste people and "untouchables" willingly converted (and also
were lured by other religions and religious leaders promising them false
promises)?

With the absence of any reliable statistics as to the number of people
converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, Vaishnavism, Brahmoism, Sikhism,
Islam, and Christianity and reasons for them to convert, this discussion is
somewhat subjective.  But that does not mean we overlook this extremely
important issue.

If orthodox (i.e., Brahminic) Hindus raise the question of conversion,
isn't it only fair that they self-introspect why caste-based Brahminic
Hinduism (which came later) co-opted and appropriated all the indigenous,
tribal, and such forms of religious practices and brought them all (mostly
by force and lies) under the so-called all-inclusive (read exploitative and
oppressive) umbrella of hierarchichal Hinduism?

Upon this background, question is, if people decide to convert to other
religions, what moral ground does anyone have to re-convert them? Can one
form of coercion (if any) be justified by another one?

I would like to quote D. D. Kosambi here:

"...Brahmans gradually penetrated whatever tribes and guild castes remained
in ancient India, ... just as the White European settlers in America
systematically destroyed the aboriginal natives ... This is a slow but
systematic process that goes back to ancient times.  Ramayan, Mahabharat,
and especially the Puranas are full of such examples."

[D. D. Kosambi. The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical
Outline.  Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.  1992 reprint.]

As D. D. Kosambi observes, during this process, new gods were introduced
and gods unsuitable to the Brahminic needs were made inferior.  "New places
of pilgrimage were introduced with suitable myths to make them respectable
though they could only have been savage, pre-Brahman cult spots.  Buddha,
and some totemic deities including the primeval Fish, Tortoise, and Boar
were made into incarnations of Vishnu-Narayan.  The monkey-faced Hanuman,
so popular with the cultivators as to be a peculiar god of the peasantry
with an independent cult of his own, becomes the faithful companion-servant
of Ram, another incarnation of Vishnu."