Ghar Wapsi

Ghar Wapsi (Hindi: घर वापसी, Urdu: گھر واپسی‎, meaning "Home Coming") is a series of religious conversion activities, organized by Indian Hindu organizations Vishva Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism which became the subject of public discussion in 2014.^[1][2][3] The Bharatiya Janata Party has claimed this is a means to get conversions banned altogether in the country.^[4]

The Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organized several Ghar Wapsi events in Kerala and Goa.^[5][6]

About 1,200 people were converted to Hinduism in a Ghar Wapsi event organized by Vishva Hindu Parishad in Telangana.^[7] The Indian Express reported that Scheduled Caste Manjhi families demanded better facilities along with education and healthcare before they converted.^[8]

Etymology

The word 'ghar' is of Sanskrit origin which means "home"^[9] and 'wapsi' is of Persian origin which means "coming back".^[10]

Repercussions

According to some sources, fears have been raised about Ghar Wapsi and its associated violent tendencies. Earlier, Ghar Wapsi has led to anti-Christian violence in The Dangs in Gujarat,^[11] and Kandhamal district in Orissa.^[12]

See also

• Shuddhi
• Dayanand Saraswati
• Swami Shraddhanand
• Agra religious conversions 2014

References

1. "Ghar Wapsi continues in Kerala; 58 more embrace Hinduism". Rediff News (December 25, 2014). December 25, 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
2. "‘Ghar wapsi’ only way to end terror says BJP leader". Hindustan Times. December 25, 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
3. VHP to hold 'ghar wapsi' for 4,000 Muslims in Ayodhya in January, Times of India, 24 December 2014
4. "Ghar wapsi to continue till conversions are banned: Adityanath". The Hindu. February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
5. "VHP plans 'ghar wapsi' in 5 Kerala districts today". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
6. "RSS to Facilitate 'Ghar Wapsi' of Goan Catholics". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
7. "Faith matters: 'Ghar Wapsi' boom in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
8. "‘Education, healthcare before ghar wapsi’". The Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
9. http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.7:1:1949.platts
10. http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:746.platts
11. http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/believer?page=0,3
12. http://www.countercurrents.org/kandhamal.htm

Further reading

• Jaffrelot, Christophe (2011). "Militant Hindus and the Conversion Issue (1885–1990): From Suddhi to Dharm Parivartan. The Politicization and Diffusion of an “Invention of Tradition”". Religion, Caste and Politics in India. C Hurst & Co. pp. 144–169. ISBN 978-1849041386.

• Katju, Manjari (3 January 2015). "The Politics of Ghar Wapsi". Economic and Political Weekly 50 (1): 21–24. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
• Sikand, Yoginder; Katju, Manjari (20 August 1994). "Mass Conversions to Hinduism among Indian Muslims". Economic and Political Weekly 29 (34): 2214–2219. JSTOR 4401654.
• Vandevelde, Iris. "Reconversion to Hinduism: A Hindu Nationalist Reaction against Conversion to Christianity and Islam". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 34 (1): 31–50. doi:10.1080/00856401.2011.549083.

• Ghar Vapsi: Civil society needs to challenge RSS's conversion agenda, Firstpost, 14 December 2014
• 'Reconversion' Paradoxes, Christopher Jaffrelot, Indian Express, 7 January 2015
• The politics of othering, Charu Gupta, Indian Express, 20 December 2014.