Ghar Wapsi


Ghar Wapsi is a series of conversion activities, facilitated by Indian Hindu organisations Vishva Hindu Parishad,Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Makkal Katchi, to facilitate conversion of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism and Sikhism. It became a subject of public discussion in 2014. The Bharatiya Janata Party's Yogi Adityanath has claimed this campaign would continue unless conversions to other religions are banned altogether in the country.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organised several Ghar Wapsi events in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Goa. The Indian Express reported that Scheduled Caste Manjhi families demanded better facilities along with education and healthcare before they converted.
In a Supreme Court judgment, the judges ruled that reconversion to Hinduism will not prevent a person from accessing quota benefits and adopt the caste of his forefathers.

Etymology

The word ghar is of Sanskrit origin which means "home". The word wapasi means to "return".

Major instances

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

More than 8,000 people in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh converted to Hinduism from July 2014 - December 2014 under the Ghar Wapsi programme. According to a VHP official, 1,200 people converted to Hinduism in a Ghar Wapsi event in Hyderabad. In October 2019, 500 Christian Dailts in Andhra Pradesh were convinced to become Hindu and promise to never go to church again.

Jharkhand

In April 2017, at least 53 tribal Christian families converted to Hinduism as part of the RSS's "Christianity-free" block campaign in Arki, Jharkhand. And at least seven other Christian families underwent a Shuddhikaran in Kochasindhri village.

Punjab

Between 2011 to 2014, about 8,000 Christians in Punjab were converted back to Sikhism. Most of the reconversion was done in the Hoshiarpur district, followed by Amritsar and Batala.

West Bengal

More than 100 tribal Christians were converted to Hinduism in the West Bengal's Birbhum district.

Uttar Pradesh

In May 2017, RSS performed conversion of at least 22 Muslims, including women and children, into Hinduism in a secretive ceremony at an Aryasamaj Temple in Ambedkar Nagar district of Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Tripura

In January 2019, 96 Tribal families that converted to Christianity 9 years prior, underwent Ghar Wapsi to reconvert back to Hinduism. The event took place in Kailashahar in Unakoti district in Tripura. The event was done by the Hindu Jagaran Mancham, an affiliate of the RSS, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Kerala

In 2015, about 35 people were reportedly converted to Hinduism at an event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Alappuzha. In 2015, 35 people converted to Hinduism in Kottayam district. They were Dalit families who had converted to Christianity a few generations back.

Tamil Nadu

In 2015, first ghar wapsi happened in Tamil Nadu where 18 Dalit Christians reconverted to Hinduism by a ceremony done by the Hindu Makkal Katchi.

Gujarat

In 2020, 144 tribal Christians who converted to Christianity many years ago converted back to Hinduism in Dang district, Gujarat by the Agniveer organisation.

Reception

Many Hindus in India, especially those affiliated with Hindutva-oriented organisations such as the BJP and RSS, are supportive of Ghar Wapsi efforts to counter what they perceive as mass conversions to Islam and Christianity and to a lesser extent Buddhism, among Dalit Hindus in India. Some secular groups and political parties are critical of Ghar Wapsi, especially when it is done with the state's support, as they say that it threatens freedom of religion in the country.