E. S. YURLOVA

Candidate of Historical Sciences

Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Keywords: Hindus, Muslims, Christians, caste, Dalits, Ambedkar

India's population (1,250 million people) is heterogeneous in terms of religious and ethnic composition. The vast majority are Hindus* who practice Hinduism (more than 4/5 of the population). This number includes high, middle and low castes, as well as Dalits-former untouchables, numbering about 200 million people. According to the Constitution of India, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs are also considered Hindus.

A significant part of the country's population is made up of religious minorities. These are Muslims-170 million people (3rd place in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan) and Christians-about 30 million people. A separate group is represented by numerous tribes - about 100 million people. Many of them are Christians. In the basic law, the untouchables and many tribes, as the most backward, are separated into separate registered castes and tribes.

According to the Constitution, India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. The word "socialist" was added to the preamble of the Constitution by a special Amendment Act of 1976. By defining India as a socialist republic, the drafters of the act meant the social and economic equality of all citizens and the denial of any discrimination based on caste, skin color, gender, religion, language, etc.

The word "secular", i.e. secular, was introduced by the same act and implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance. There is no State religion in India, citizens have the right to practice any religion, and the State has no right to give preference or discriminate against any religion.

All citizens have an equal right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess a religion, practice religious rites and propagate any religion of their choice. The idea of secularism fixed at the state level the need to regulate relations between the state and religious communities in order to preserve the unity of the country1.

The multi-religious and multi-ethnic composition of India's population has always been taken into account by all political parties. Any changes in favor of certain religious and ethnic groups caused a wary reaction from others.

After the right-wing conservative nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party, BJP) came to power in May 2014, articles and other materials began to appear in the Indian press, talking about the attempts of the new ruling regime to change the existing religious and ethnic composition in the country in its favor, to turn India into a Hindu state - Hindu Rashtra, in which Hindu values should prevail. The idea was that Indian Muslims and Christians should integrate into the Hindu social system.

The 2014 parliamentary elections showed that the new government has limited resources. Only 30% of the voters voted for the BJP, and about 20% for the Indian National Congress (INC) party, which was previously in power. Prior to this, both parties received approximately the same number of votes (25% each), while the rest of the votes were equal.-

* In the Russian media, the term "Hindus" is often used to refer to the entire population of India. This is incorrect, even though Hindus are the majority. All the inhabitants of India, taken together , are Indians (editor's note).

* * Buddhism emerged in the sixth and fifth centuries BC as a protest against Hindu Brahmanism. Jainism appeared almost at the same time. It is distinguished by the rejection of violence against living and inanimate nature. Sikhism emerged in the 16th century AD as a protest against caste oppression. It recognizes all people as equal before God.

The majority of the electorate consisted of regional parties. This meant that the BJP needed additional votes, and therefore an expansion of its socio-political base, in order to strengthen its influence in the following years and be able to make changes to the Constitution of India to its advantage.

The BJP's growing influence may have been influenced by Dalits and tribes, as well as individual groups of Muslims and Christians. Many of them were outside the traditional high-caste BJP's orbit of influence.

AMBEDKAR'S NAME IN BJP'S SERVICE

For the BJP and its organizations, bringing Dalits and tribesmen into their political orbit has become an urgent ideological and political challenge. For this purpose, representatives of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Union of Voluntary Servants of the State-Nation - RCC, founded in 1925), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Council of Hindus, WCP, founded in 1964) and other Hindu organizations known as the Hindutva Family were mobilized.

One of the methods of winning the sympathy of Dalits was to appeal to the name of B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) and even glorify it. Ambedkar-a native of the untouchable caste-is known as a public and political figure during the national liberation movement, one of the creators of the Constitution of India, a fighter against the caste system, a defender of the rights of Dalits. But he was also a critic of the RCC and the Hindu Mahasabha (Great Assembly of Hindus, founded in 1906) ^.2

Given the huge influence of Ambedkar's ideas among the Dalits, the BJP began to revise its ideological attitudes towards this leader of the socially oppressed strata as early as in the 1990s. This has been given a new impetus by the current BJP government.

Thus, the Government of Narendra Modi has adopted a grandiose program to celebrate Ambedkar's 125th birthday for a year, starting on April 14, 2015. It has allocated 990 million rupees (about $15 million) for the construction of a monument to him in central Delhi, and 1970 million rupees (about $30 million) for the construction of the Ambedkar International Center. A foundation named after him was established to conduct a series of lectures in Indian universities on the significance of this figure's contribution to strengthening the unity of Indian society. It was decided to send 100 students to the United States and England to study at Columbia University and the London School of Economics (where Ambedkar studied). Other events are also planned: to issue a stamp and mint a coin with his image on his birthday and celebrate this date as the Day of Friendship and Brotherhood ³.

In the same context, we can also consider the speech of the President of India Pranab Mukherjee on January 25, 2015 on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the Republic of India. He spoke about three prominent figures who have played a major role in the country's modern history: B. R. Ambedkar, M. K. Gandhi and J. R. R. Tolkien.Nehru ⁴.

The Indian press, as well as all major parties, pays great attention to Ambedkar's 125th birthday. This suggests that in the struggle for the multi-million Dalit votes, various means are used, including Ambedkar's authority among voters of all segments of the population without exception.

The use of Ambedkar's name is also evidenced by the acquisition of a house in London by the BJP government in Maharashtra in September 2015 for 3.1 million pounds, where Ambedkar lived in 1921-1923 when he was studying at the London School of Economics. A memorial center named after him will be created there. Its opening was part of the events dedicated to Ambedkar's 125th birthday and was timed to coincide with the visit of Indian Prime Minister Modi to London in December 2015. In this regard, Santosh Dass, President of the Federation of Ambedkar Followers and Buddhist Organizations in the United Kingdom, said:: "This is a great event for Ambedkar's followers in London and around the world. It is very important to them, because in this house he enriched himself with knowledge and strengthened his resolve to challenge the caste system and British rule in India. " ⁵

The BJP's use of Ambedkar's name for political purposes did not mean that the party shared Ambedkar's views on Hinduism, on the equality of all religions and castes, and especially on his struggle against untouchability and other forms of social oppression, which are an integral part of the orthodox caste system of Hinduism.

This, in particular, was clearly shown in the history of the publication in Gujarat of the school textbook for grades 6 - 8 "The Great statesman of India, knight of the highest Order of the country" Pearl of India "B. R. Ambedkar". The textbook was intended as an integral part of events in connection with the celebration of the 125th anniversary of this figure. The text of the textbook was written by the scholar P. A. Parmar (Dalit). When preparing for

Publications the publishing house changed and distorted Ambedkar's main ideas, including the equality of all people, his religious conversion to Buddhism, and his condemnation of orthodox Hinduism. The author of the textbook was categorically opposed to its publication in this form. As a result, the Gujarat government seized the entire print run of 400,000 copies. there are ⁶ copies of the textbook out of circulation.

THE ORIGINS OF RELIGIOUS AND COMMUNAL DISCORD

Today, the extremely difficult problem that the BJP and Hindutva Families organizations are trying to solve is their relations with Muslims and Christians. Although India has accumulated a vast experience of living together on its territory with representatives of different religions and ethnic groups, in socio-economic terms, Muslims are at the lower stages of development of Indian society. Because of their religious differences from Hindus, they often suffer from accusations that they are not patriots of India.⁷

Islam was first brought to the west coast of India by Arab merchants in the seventh century, and to Northern India by Turkic conquerors in the twelfth century. Over time, Islam has become an integral part of the Indian religious and cultural tradition. Until the conquest of India by British colonialists in the mid-eighteenth century, Islam was the dominant religion in the country. After the partition of India in 1947, a significant part of Muslims remained in India.

Relations between Hindus and Muslims in India have been and remain an extremely sensitive issue. Religious and communal clashes often broke out at different times and places, and their resolution required great tolerance, respect for religious customs, tact, and political will. Society and the state have made a lot of efforts in this direction. And yet, the socio-cultural gap between both communities continues to exist.

Many factors contributed to this, but one of the most significant was the emergence of religious reform societies in India in the mid-19th century, many of which were based on the idea of Hinduism's exclusivity, its dominant role in the cultural and socio-political formation of the country. Such a society was the religious-reformist Arya Samaj (Society of the Enlightened), founded in 1875 by Swami Dayananda (1824-1883) ^.8

His book Satyartha Prakasa (The Light of Truth)⁹, which became the Aryasamajist Bible, was a critique of Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. At the same time, it glorified Hinduism, which, in his opinion, was free from many of the shortcomings of these religions. The book clearly shows the anti-Muslim attitude of the author, which eventually became stronger in the activities of the Arya Samaj and manifested itself in his active advocacy for the return to the bosom of Hinduism of those who (or their ancestors) once adopted a different faith. They meant Muslims and Christians.

The religious ceremony of shuddhi, i.e. purification from ritual contamination, was performed for them. In 1923, the Hindu Mahasabha leadership approved this ceremony and launched an active effort to put it into practice. This initiative of the Hindu Mahasabhi provoked serious riots on religious and communal grounds between Hindus and Muslims.

However, this did not stop the supporters of a single "Hindu nation". In 1925, the famous leader of the national liberation movement, Lala Hardayal, wrote the following in his political will:: "I declare that the future of Hindus is based on Hinduism, Hindu statehood and religious purification (shuddhi) of Muslims. Until the Hindu nation achieves these goals, the safety of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be at risk." Muslims and Christians, Hardayal wrote, are outside of Hinduism because their religions are alien to it.¹⁰

Later, RSS leader V. D. Savarkar called on religious minorities to give up their cultural identity in favor of a majority community, i.e. Hindus, in order to create a Hindu state-Hindu Rashtra.

Another head of the RCC, M. S. Golvalkar, spoke in the same vein. He wrote in 1966 that Muslims and Christians should " abandon their current foreign mentality and merge in the general flow of our national life." "It is our duty," Golwalkar emphasized, " to call upon all our forgotten brothers, who have suffered in religious slavery for centuries, to return to their parental home." He believed that Hindus, regardless of caste, form a single society, while Muslims and Christians belong to "an alien and even hostile camp" ¹¹.

Thus, the concept of Hindutva (Hinduness), created by Hindu nationalists, can be considered as a kind of germ of the idea of spreading Hinduism.

not only in India, but also abroad. Since the 1980s, it has become a key part of the activities of Hindu politicians, the ideological core of their propaganda.

HINDUISM IS IN DANGER!

Since coming to power, the BJP and its organizations have stated that they have adopted a democratic approach, as it expresses the will of the majority of voters. It is clear that this majority is Hindu. At the same time, it turned out that among the members of Parliament there was not a single Muslim from this party. This was caused by the aggressive nationalist ideology and politics of Hindutva.

After reviewing the results of the 2011 census, which compared to the Hindu community, which has slightly decreased in size, and the Muslim ¹², on the contrary, has increased, the leaders of the Hindutva family, including Praveen Togadia, the working president of the VHP, began to talk about the impending threat of the disappearance of Hindus and Hinduism. Moreover, he surprised many when he said that "at a certain period of time, the whole world was Hindu. It had a total of $ 7 billion. there are only 1 billion Hindus today. " ¹³

Later, in the RSS Organizer magazine, the same Togadiya's statement was published about the need to criminally prosecute those Muslims who have more than two children. They should be deprived of ration cards, dismissed from their jobs, and denied education to their children. He motivated these demands by the threat of the disappearance of Hindus if the growth of the Muslim population is not stopped. ¹⁴ The task of the VCP, Togadia said, is to ensure that the population of India consists of 100% Hindus.

Sadhvi Dev Thakur, the vice-president of another Hindu organization, the All India Mahasabha, caused a great uproar in the society. She stated: "The central authorities should impose a state of emergency and forcibly sterilize Muslims and Christians so that they cannot continue to increase their population." At the same time, one of the famous religious leaders of Shaivism called on Hindus to give birth to from four to 40 children. BJP MP Shakshi Maharaj commented: "At least four children to protect the religion." He proposed the adoption of a law on the death penalty for those who converted lower castes and tribes to Islam and Christianity.¹⁵

A whole chorus of speeches on this topic immediately followed. Leaders of various Hindutva family organizations have been increasingly vocal in their claims that Muslims and Christians are planning to turn Hindus into a minority within the next 30 years, establish their dominance, and completely destroy Hindu culture.

In practical terms, this meant, firstly, putting a strong barrier against Christianity and Islam, and, secondly, leading the matter to Hindu proselytism, which did not correspond to the dogmas of Hinduism.

To achieve these goals, Hindutva Families organizations have started working in two main areas. First, they set out to reduce the influence of Muslims and Christians and push them to the margins of public life. For this purpose, in particular, quotas for education and jobs for Muslims, introduced by the Congress government on the recommendation of the Sachar Commission (2006), were abolished. In several states, cow slaughter and beef sales (professional occupation of Muslims) were banned, which led to the loss of jobs for this group of people.

Second, Hindutva families have increased pressure on Muslims and Christians to return to Hinduism.

THE PRODIGAL SONS ' RETURN TO HINDUISM

In order to achieve the second goal, Hindutva Families began actively promoting the so - called Ghar Vapsi movement-return to the parental home. This means the return of the" lost sons " to their true religion in the name of building a Hindu state - Hindu Rashtra. RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat said that all people born in India are considered Hindus. The cultural identity of all Indians is Hindutva, he said, and the current inhabitants of India are descendants of this great culture. "India is a Hindu state, and the RCC's goal," he stressed, "is to convert all Muslims and Christians to Hinduism by 2021." ¹⁶

Hindutva family activists have launched a broad campaign for the" return to the parental home " of Muslims and Christians. To fulfill this task, Hindutva families organizations set up grassroots branches of the Committee for Religious and Cultural Awakening of Hindus-Dharam Jagran Samiti.

Numerous temples are being built at the expense of the VHP and other organizations belonging to the Hindutva family, which can also be visited by "converts" to Hinduism. There are also other, one-time, but no less significant events, such as the mentioned shuddhi ceremony - purification from the contamination of someone else's religion.

Here is an example of such a ceremony. A Hindu priest sprinkles holy water from the Ganges on a Muslim or Christian who is about to "return" to Hinduism. Then he is anointed with a few drops of a mixture of the five elements from the sacred cow-manure, urine, milk, ghee, and curdled milk. After that, it is necessary to throw a betel leaf and nut, a piece of coconut into the fire and pour some water into the burning fire. The priest hangs an image of the Hindu god around the neck of the "convert" and presents him with a book about the exploits of the god Rama. A man gets a dhoti and a woman gets a sari. The ceremony ends with a treat of rice and peas with vegetables.

Members of Parliament, as well as high religious authorities, take part in events held by VHP activists. With the assistance of local authorities, "converts" are provided with social and charitable assistance, including in obtaining ration cards, certificates of belonging to those poor segments of the population who are entitled to certain benefits. Some Muslims are sometimes lured by false promises to provide land, include their names in the list of registered castes to receive benefits in education and work.

The leadership of the Dharam Jagran Samiti stated that this organization spends 100,000 rupees on converting to Hinduism for one Muslim and 300,000 rupees for one Christian. To justify these amounts, it is argued that the Christian community receives more financial support from the Church and organizations close to it than the Muslim community. V. Ramakrishnan, author of the Hindutva Project, believes that Dharam Jagran Samiti actually follows the same path of attracting and luring adherents, although they condemn the practice of Christian missionaries and Islamist jihadists.¹⁷

FIGHT FOR INFLUENCE AMONG THE UNTOUCHABLES

Most of those who converted to Islam or Christianity in the course of history were mainly from Dalit and tribal castes. The untouchables, which Hinduism rejected as "vile and unholy," have traditionally served as a reservoir of replenishment for the Muslim and Christian communities.

The beginning of the spread of Christianity in India is traditionally associated with one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ - Thomas. He is believed to have died in Madras (now Chennai) in 53 AD. Since then, Christianity has strengthened its position in India, especially in the south and northeast of the country.

Mass conversions of untouchables to Christianity began in the second half of the 16th century in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Anglo-Saxon Protestant missions received a favorable response from the untouchables.

With the introduction of the system of elections by confessional curia under the British Act of 1909, the competition between Hindus and Muslims for mandates in legislative bodies, the number of seats in which depended on the size of communities, increased. Until the British Empire started talking about representative government, sociologist Arundhati Roy said, "no one was worried when the lower castes adopted Islam, Christianity,or Sikhism." ¹⁸

The Muslim League and its organizations have focused on the untouchables in their fight to increase the size of the community. The conversion of the untouchables to Islam soon became widespread, which seriously puzzled the leaders of the Indian National Congress, who sought unity of all communities in the national liberation struggle against British rule.

In 1923, Congress Chairman Maulana Mohammal Ali even proposed dividing the untouchables equally between Hindus and Muslims to end the competition between the Congress and the Muslim League for influence among these strata.

Later, the Government of India Act of 1935 treated untouchables as part of the Hindu community. They were called "registered castes". A year later, a large list of these castes was approved, on the basis of which they were granted the right to reserve a certain number of seats in legislative bodies. (In 1981, according to the census, there were about 1,000 such castes in the country. ¹⁹)

Since India's independence, a narrow stratum of educated people has emerged from the registered castes, including politicians, professionals, cultural figures, etc. But still, these Dalit castes made up the bulk of the most destitute and oppressed people. During all the years of independent development of the country, they continued to struggle to improve their social and economic situation. One of the forms of this struggle was the rejection of Hinduism and the adoption of another religion.

* Dhoti - a traditional type of men's clothing, common in South and Southeast Asia, in particular in India. It is a rectangular strip of fabric 2-5 m long, wrapped around the legs and thighs with one end passing between the legs (editor's note).

Over the centuries, vast masses of untouchables and low castes have embraced Islam. According to some sources, they now make up more than 80% of India's total Muslim population.²⁰ Therefore, their political weight and significance in India cannot be underestimated by any political party. The fight for their votes is getting worse every year. In many states, they play a key role in election results, in which party or coalition comes to power.

"PARENTAL HOME" IS A LOW CASTE

According to social activist Anand Teltumbde, the main reason why the lower castes, mostly untouchables, previously turned to Islam and Christianity was because they were the most belittled and disadvantaged in the caste system of Hinduism. And now the" new converts " to Hinduism of Muslims and Christians are being returned to the previous traditionally low caste level.²¹

For example, in Pune, Maharashtra, during the conversion ceremony of Christian members of the Vanavasi tribe (lit. - forest people) the priest explained: "Vanavasi who were seduced by Christian missionaries but returned to Hinduism will still remain Vanavasi." ²²

Back in 1899, the religious reformer Swami Vivekananda, when asked what caste those who "return to Hinduism" will belong to, said: "Those who previously had a caste will return to it. And those newly initiated to Hinduism will create their own. The "new converts" will marry among themselves, just as they have done so far."²³

Accordingly, just recently, a BJP member of Parliament stated that those who "return to their parents 'home" will remain in the same caste that they or their ancestors were in before converting to Islam or Christianity.

Anand Teltumbde writes about this: "This means that they will remain in the Hindu system at the same lower level as their ancestors were many centuries ago. But they were trying to get rid of the yoke of caste dependence."²⁴ Hindutva aims to weaken the majority of this population, forcing it under the Hindu umbrella, but on conditions determined for it by high castes. Today, the Hindutva family is fighting for demographics (and electoral votes), but no one is talking about caste. The right to own land, wealth, and access to certain types of labor is carefully protected by the higher castes. "The ghar vapsi campaign," says Arundathi Roy, "is an effort to bring the lower castes back to the 'big house' but give them a servant's quarters. " ²⁵

Hindutva does not recognize equality, The Hindu newspaper emphasizes. It is caste that is the virus that characterizes the pathology of Hindutva. How much democracy can destroy the caste hierarchy is one of the most pressing questions in modern India.²⁶

So, the caste is the very "parental home" - ghar vapsi, where Muslims and Christians converted to Hinduism should return. There is no other choice. And this is the tragedy of the Ghar Wapsi campaign. This is nothing but a reversal.

The policy of attracting Muslims and Christians to the BJP's side by so-called returning to the "parental home" is unlikely to bring political dividends to the party. As the BJP's previous experience in power has shown, the party's ideological and propaganda work in this area has had a very limited impact on this electorate. Hindutva Families, by their own admission, have been engaged for 25 years in bringing Hinduism back into the fold by holding shuddhi ceremonies for the lower social strata in the major states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. ²⁷

ATTEMPTS TO PASS A LAW AGAINST RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS

In 1998, during the BJP government, Prime Minister Vajpayee stated that conversion (to Hinduism from Christianity and Islam) would not stop until conversion from Hinduism to these religions stopped.²⁸ The following year, he made an unsuccessful attempt to pass through Parliament the necessary law for the BJP. During the 2014 election campaign, the party repeatedly promised to pass a law banning all religious conversions.

In March 2015, Rajnath Singh, the BJP's Home Minister, said that he was not personally concerned about the growing Muslim population. "It doesn't matter how many Muslims there are in the country. We don't have any problems with that. But the ongoing conversions to Islam must come to an end."²⁹

Hindutva supporters are most concerned about the activity of Christian missionaries in India. Hinting at Mother Teresa's activities but not mentioning her name, Rajnath Singh said: "If you want to do charity work, do it. Why do we need to do this for the sake of religious conversion?" Just like his party, he believes that re-

Religious appeals will change India's demographics, and thus the country will lose its cultural identity. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a law prohibiting any appeals ³⁰.

But for this, as for other projects to change the Constitution of India, the BJP does not have a majority in the upper house of parliament.

PM DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM THE PRACTICES OF HINDU RADICALS

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried not to comment on the speeches of Hindu radicals. He has repeatedly spoken of the need for "development for all and for all" and has taken steps to reassure Muslims and Christians. So, he met with the oldest leaders of the Muslim community and assured them that he would help all segments of the Muslim society. Muslim leaders drew attention to the problem of protecting the property of mosques, prayer houses and madrasas. They also raised the issue of strengthening state assistance in obtaining education for Muslim youth. The Prime Minister promised to support these requests ³¹.

A similar situation has developed in relations between Hindu Orthodox and Christians. The former attacked churches and desecrated Christian shrines. There have been reports of ration cards being taken from Christian families and humiliated in every possible way.

Following the desecration of five Christian churches by Hindu vandals, Modi joined Cardinal George Alencherry in a ceremony marking the sainthood of Father Kuriakose Elias Chavar and Mother Euphrasia. However, responding to criticism that the government is not responding properly to the intolerance of Hindutva family groups, Modi said that everyone has the inherent right to adhere to any religion. "We cannot accept violence against any religion under any pretext. I strongly condemn such violence. My Government, "the Prime Minister said," will not allow any religious group to incite hatred against members of other religions, openly or secretly. My Government will respect all religions equally... The principle of equal respect for all beliefs has been part of our morality for thousands of years. " ³²

At the same time, critics of the Indian government believe that it has taken a course to remove non-Hindus from power. Professor Zoya Hasan, for example, believes that the special feature of the 2014 elections was the "successful consolidation of the Hindu vote". The BJP has demonstrated that it can win a majority in Parliament without the support of minorities. It has a significant majority in the Lower House (272 out of 543 deputies), and there is not a single Muslim deputy. This creates a new policy model that excludes minorities. This is a challenge to the country's democratic structure and runs counter to India's multicultural vision. The question is whether such a project is consistent with the Constitution of India and human rights regardless of religion or caste.³³

And a year after the elections, there were cases of vandalism against Christian churches and individuals. So, in Delhi, several churches were burned down, and in Calcutta, a 70-year-old nun from the Convention of Christ and Mary was raped by a group of people. After that, the head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Basilios Klimens, said that the state is responsible to all Indians, and not just to the cows sacred to Hindus. The State's priority should be the protection of all citizens. Moreover, the culture of India gives room for all beliefs, including the right not to believe in God. He denounced the statement of a BJP leader who said that "God is only present in Hindu temples, not churches." ³⁴ The Cardinal asked if this was a violation of the Constitution. All this is bad for India and its image in the world.

ON US MEDDLING IN INDIA'S RELIGIOUS ISSUES

The Indian press noted that during his visit to India in January 2015, US President Barack Obama twice raised the issue of religious tolerance in India. This caused confusion among many Indians, as it looked like interference in the internal affairs of the country. But this, apparently, was not an accident.

Ahead of Obama's trip to Delhi, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a December 2014 report that "Hindu organizations have announced plans to forcibly" convert at least 4,000 Christian and 1,000 Muslim families in Uttar Pradesh to Hinduism. Christmas time as part of the ghar vapsi program.

The same Commission criticized the Government on April 30, 2015.-

dii. Its report noted that sectarian and communal violence has increased in India over the past three years. "Since the 2014 elections, minority religious communities have been subjected to humiliating attacks by politicians associated with the ruling BJP, as well as numerous attacks and violent conversions to Hinduism organized by "Hindu nationalist groups such as the RSS and VHP". The Commission's report included references not only to the Ghar Wapsi program, but also to cases of religious and communal clashes in Gujarat in 2002, Orissa in 2007, Muzaffarabad in 2013, and anti-Sikh pogroms in 1984.

To all this, the Indian Foreign Ministry said: "Our attention has been drawn to the report of the US Commission on Religious Freedom in the World, which has expressed its judgment on religious freedom in India. This report appears to be based on a limited understanding of India, its constitution and its society... We do not attach any importance to this report. " ³⁵

However, a member of the Upper House of Parliament from the Janata Dal (United)party Pawan K. Varma did not agree with this position of the Government of India. He believed that what is happening in India today is a serious blow to the secular image of a country known in the world for its respect for all religions. There are serious concerns that the Government's plans will be disrupted by social instability, which is caused by deliberate attempts to fuel inter-communal tensions.³⁶

* * *

The BJP's relations with religious minorities, Dalits and tribesmen undoubtedly play a big role in the country's life. They largely determine the outcome of the political struggle both in the states and in the center. But it is even more important to address the problems of socio-economic development of the weak strata of the population, to fulfill the promises made by the BJP during the 2014 election campaign.

¹ The Constitution of India. Delhi: Universal Law Publishing Co. PVT. LTD, 2000, articles 15, 25.

² On the activities of B. R. Ambedkar, see: Yurlova E. S. India: from Untouchables to Dalits. Ocherki istorii, ideologii i politiki [Essays on History, Ideology and Politics], Moscow, IV RAS, 2003, pp. 112-219 (Yurlova E. S. 2003. India: ot neprikasaemykh k dalitam... M.) (in Russian)

³ The Hindu. 30.05.2015.

⁴ President Pranab Mukherjee's address to the nation on the eve of 66th Republic Day // The Hindu. January 25, 2015.

⁵ The Hindu. 25.09.2015; 28.08.2015.

^{Vajpeyi Ananya.} 6 Owning Ambedkar sens his views // The Hindu. 27.09.2015.

^{Yurlova E. S.} 7 India: Muslims and Muslim women. Problems of a religious minority in a multi-confessional society / / Asia and Africa Today. 2007, N 10. P. 21. (Yurlova E. S. 2007. India: musulmane i musulmanki... // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 10) (in Russian)

⁸ See: Vanina E. Yu. Indiya: istoriya v istorii [India: History in History], Moscow, Vostochnaya literatura. 2014. С. 160 - 168 (Vanina E.Yu. 2014. India: istoria v istorii. M.) (in Russian)

⁹ The Light of Truth. English Translation of Swami Dayananda's book Sathyartha Prakasha by G.P. Upadhyaya.

^{Noorani A.G.} 10 Conversion to Hindu Raj // Frontline. 09.01.2015. P. 121.

^{Golwalkar M.S.} 11 Bunch of Thoughts. Bangalore: Vikrama Prakashan. 1966. P. 1092. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an admirer of Golwalkar.

¹² There is still no data on the number of members of religious communities in the 2011 census. There are different figures in the press. But their essence is that the share of Hindus in the country's population is slightly decreasing.

¹³ The Indian Express. 15.12.2014.

¹⁴ Togadia: Muslims having more than two kids should be criminalized // Outlook. 03.09.2015.

¹⁵ The Hindu. January 07, 2015.

^{Teltumbde Anand.} 16 Char Wapsi. Welcome to the Hellhole of Hinduism // Economic and Political Weekly. January 3, 2015. P. 10.

^{Ramakrishnan V.} 17 Project Hindutva // Frontline. January 9, 2015. P. 22.

^{Roy Arundhati.} 18 Movements are not radical anymore // The Hindu. 05.05.2015.

^{19 "Neprikasaemye" v Indii. M., Nauka, 1989. P. 94. (} Yurlova E. S. 1989. "Neprikasaemye" v Indii. M.) (in Russian)

^{Khanam Azra.} 20 Muslim Backward Classes. A Sociological Perspective. New Delhi: Sage Publication, 2013 // Frontline, May 2, 2014. P. 101.

²¹ Op. cit. P. 10.

²² Mainstream. 19.08.2000. In accordance with the canons of Hinduism, tribes that have adopted this religion are traditionally assigned the status of ati-shudra, i.e. untouchables. Integrating into the caste society, the tribe occupies the lowest place in the caste hierarchy.

²³ Vivekananda. Selections from Swami Vivekananda. Calcutta, 1975. P. 385.

²⁴ Op. cit. P. 11.

²⁵ The Hindu. 05.05.2015.

²⁶ Caste and the battle for secularism // The Hindu. 08.09.2015.

^{Ramakrishnan V., Trivedi Divva.} 27 By Means mostly foul // Frontline. January 9, 2015. P. 23.

^{Katju Manjari.} 28 The Politics of Char Wapsi // Economic and Political Weekly. January 1, 2015. P. 23.

²⁹ Mainstream. April 3 - 9, 2015. P. 4.

^{Dayal John.} 30 Modi Government builds Tempo for National Law Banning Conversions to Christianity // Mainstream. April 3 - 9, 2015. P. 3, 4.

³¹ The Hindu. April 06, 2015.

³² The Hindu. February 17, 2015.

³³ The Hindu. March 17, 2015.

³⁴ The Hindu. May 5, 2015.

³⁵ India rejects US report on religious freedom // Sify News. 01.05.2015.

^{Varma Pavan K.} 36 Of images and perceptions // The Hindu. May 6, 2015.

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