‘Ghar wapsi’ put off, wait and watch in Aligarh

The DJS is apprehensive that the local administration would try to help Church representatives talk.

The RSS affiliate, Dharm Jagran Samiti (DJS), has put off its planned December 25 ‘ghar wapsi’ of 5,000 Christian and Muslim families in Aligarh, but has not given up on the plan.

Cadres of the organisation were camping in nearby villages on Christmas eve, keeping watch on the target group for possible attempts by Christian missionaries to approach them to participate in any celebrations.

A senior member of the DJS in Aligarh told The Indian Express: “Our cadres have been regularly visiting families whom we want to bring back to the Hindu fold. I will visit the villages myself to check on our brothers. The programme of ghar wapsi has only been postponed, not cancelled. A programme will be organised soon, at which people who have gone astray will be brought back.”

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Sources said the DJS’s plans were linked to the ending of the Winter Session of Parliament, during which the government was put under pressure to leash the ‘reconversion’ activities of groups affiliated to the Sangh. The DJS is believed to be apprehensive that the local administration would try to help Church representatives talk to the target families.

“We want to be prepared, because our ghar wapsi programme is likely to happen soon. They (Christians) spend money to convert Hindus. We will just perform a puja and bring them back home,” Satprakash Navman, convener, DJS, said. Rev. Sunil Luke of the Church of Ascension said, “We are keeping an eye on these families.”

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