There was an elaborate shuddhi karan (purification) ceremony on
Tuesday, Aug.26 inside the church in Asroi, 30km from Aligarh. Children
from the village soon took over the premises and were seen playing in it
by afternoon on Wednesday. A cross was allegedly remove from the church
and placed outside the gate and a portrait of Shiva installed.
Khem Chandra, Sangh pracharak and pramukh of Dharam Jagran Vivad in Aligarh, said, “This is called ghar wapasi, not conversion. They left by choice and today they have realized their mistake and want to come back. We welcome them. We can’t let our samaj scatter; we have to hold it tight. I have told them that honour comes from within the community and not from outside.” Chandra added that in the years that followed their adoption of Christianity, he met heads of the eight Valmiki families numerous times to convince them to reconsider their decision.
However, as news of the ‘reconversion’ spread, tension started building up, with sleuths of the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) converging on the spot. Some villagers told on condition of anonymity, that the Shiva portrait had been removed and kept inside the house of a local resident. Anil Gaur, one of those who returned to the Hindu fold, said it was because they were unhappy with the caste system that they changed their religion. “But we found ourselves in no better position among Christians,” he said. “As Hindus we had no status and were restricted to doing menial jobs, but even after remaining a Christian for 19 years, we saw that no one came to us from their community. There was no celebration of Bada Din (Christmas). The missionaries just built a church for us in the vicinity where some of the vil
Khem Chandra, Sangh pracharak and pramukh of Dharam Jagran Vivad in Aligarh, said, “This is called ghar wapasi, not conversion. They left by choice and today they have realized their mistake and want to come back. We welcome them. We can’t let our samaj scatter; we have to hold it tight. I have told them that honour comes from within the community and not from outside.” Chandra added that in the years that followed their adoption of Christianity, he met heads of the eight Valmiki families numerous times to convince them to reconsider their decision.
However, as news of the ‘reconversion’ spread, tension started building up, with sleuths of the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) converging on the spot. Some villagers told on condition of anonymity, that the Shiva portrait had been removed and kept inside the house of a local resident. Anil Gaur, one of those who returned to the Hindu fold, said it was because they were unhappy with the caste system that they changed their religion. “But we found ourselves in no better position among Christians,” he said. “As Hindus we had no status and were restricted to doing menial jobs, but even after remaining a Christian for 19 years, we saw that no one came to us from their community. There was no celebration of Bada Din (Christmas). The missionaries just built a church for us in the vicinity where some of the vil
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