Christian missionaries had converted around 120 individuals from 67 families in Barka Khurd Panchayat, Ichak block, Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, to Christianity a few months earlier. Sanatan Samaj organized a religious conversion event at the Shiv temple in Barka Khurd, where they ceremoniously welcomed back into Hinduism through a traditional foot-washing ceremony amid the chanting of “Om.”
The majority of those returning to Hinduism were from Dalit communities, and a significant number of them were women. The event included religious rituals conducted by Acharya Pushpa Shastri from Arsh Kanya Gurukul, who, along with 20 girls, oversaw the rites. These rituals included collective prayers known as ‘aachman’ and the wearing of the sacred thread, or ‘Yajnopaveet,’ which marked their formal return to Sanatan Dharma.
Among the returnees, several women revealed that they first received invitations to satsangs (religious gatherings) with the intention of participating in discussions about Lord Shiva. However, these gatherings gradually shifted to focus on the teachings of Jesus Christ. The women disclosed that they received financial incentives for their participation in these discussions.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Hindu organizations have alleged that Christian missionaries are exploiting the economic vulnerabilities of weaker families to convert them. These groups assert that missionaries conduct pentecostal-style faith-healing sessions, known as ‘changai sabhas,’ claiming to cure participants of their illnesses. People describe these alleged healing sessions as a tactic to lure people into Christianity.
Barka Khurd Panchayat’s villagers and converts expressed their desire to return to their original faith, but struggled to participate in the ‘ghar wapsi’ (homecoming) process until the organization of the event on Tuesday. Thousands of Sanatan Dharma followers attended the ritual, along with key VHP functionaries, including provincial leaders, the BJP district president, and other prominent figures.
Chandrakant Raipat, the provincial president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, called on the administration to take swift action against the organizations and individuals responsible for converting Hindus under the guise of healing their diseases. He emphasized that converting people by deception or through financial inducement is a criminal offense, and he urged the authorities to hold those involved accountable.
