RSS plans to step up campaign against 'religious conversions'

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that it will “step up” its campaign against the so-called ‘love jihad’-- a bogey spread by right-wing organisations alleging that Muslim men ‘trap’ Hindu and Christian women into marrying them and force them to convert to Islam. The RSS has also said that it will get women, Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to be the “torchbearers of its samajik sadbhav (social harmony) agenda”. 

According to IANS, the decision was arrived at by the RSS after multiple meetings held by the organisation’s chief Mohan Bhagwat as a part of his ongoing Awadh Prant visit in Lucknow.

For organisational purposes, the RSS has divided Uttar Pradesh into six parts -- Braj, Meerut (both west UP), Kanpur-Bundelkhand, Awadh, Gorakhpur and Kashi (Varanasi).

The RSS, IANS further reports, has also decided that the Sangh would accelerate its campaign to enlist ideologically inclined youths and the campaign is to gain momentum in the coming months. The move must be seen in relation with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the Sangh’s centenary celebrations in September 2025.

Special training camps or workshops to introduce youngsters to the Sangh’s ideology and functioning are already underway. “It has been decided to step up the Sangh’s outreach campaign in rural areas, besides pressing the accelerator on anti-national activities, love jihad and religious conversion through enticements,” Mohan Bhagwat reportedly said. 

‘Matantaran’ (religious conversion through enticements) and love jihad have long been on the Sangh’s agenda but has received further impetus since 2017, after BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh as well. 

The Sangh has also meanwhile floated a Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) to connect with “nationalist Muslims”, a process that would continue, RSS leaders told IANS.