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Religious leaders oppose attempts to politicise conversions

Religious leaders today expressed apprehensions about the attempts to reduce religion to a "political entity centred on the numbers game" and called for a "holistic and humanist" approach to the issue.

Participating in a debate on religious conversions organised by the Trivandrum University College, Rev Cyril Mar Besalios, metropolitan archbishop of Trivandrum, said the terms 'religion' and 'conversion' are perceived and explained differently and should be clarified before beginning any debate on the topic.

Defining religion as man's search for god, Mar Besalios said conversion in its primary sense denotes a change of heart towards god. "The change of a set of practices and culture is irrelevant. But a hue and cry is made on this peripheral issue," he said.

Declaring himself a Hindu by culture and Christian by faith, the archbishop said Christians, who have been living in the country since the first century, should not be deprived of their right to be part of Indian culture.

Supporting the goal of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and other such groups to uphold Indian culture, Mar Besalios, however, said their strategies to achieve the goal are wrong.

More than viewing religion as a set of principles and customs, it should be considered an individual's relationship with god. All religions offer different explanations for and ways to fulfil this relationship, and change of these customs does not matter much, he added.

UNI

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