In Aligarh, all is calm, for now

In bustling Aligarh, amid the din of zooming vehicles and billows of smoke coming out of their exhaust pipes, a sense of relief is palpable. After a week of being on newspaper front pages for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) proposed "ghar wapasi" (homecoming) programme, the city seems to have returned to normalcy since the 'reconversion' plan was deferred. "The topic is attracting too much attention. We did not feel it was wise to hold the ceremony now," says Rajeshwar Singh, a member of the Dharm Jagran Samiti, the RSS-linked organisation that was sponsoring the event. "We are not cancelling it," he quickly adds. "We will hold it at a later date." The samiti had scheduled the programme for December 25 at Maheshwari Inter College in the old part of the city.

Doyle Matthew lives in Aligarh's World Bank Colony, an area mainly inhabited by the city's Christian community. Ask him about the conversion programme and his response is a sharp one. "It's not happening now. We would never have let it happen." Matthew is one of the few Christians who live in this part of Uttar Pradesh. Born here, he says that his family has always been Christian and terms the RSS' attempt to convert him to Hinduism as "ghastly".

This sentiment is echoed by Reverend Jonathan Lal of the Methodist Church of Aligarh. "The choice of religion is a personal one and you should not be forced into making one," he says. "I'm glad the state government has helped in curbing passions and the programme has been stopped."

The RSS office in Aligarh, where only a few days ago workers were frantically preparing for the ceremony, now wears a deserted look. "With the Samajwadi Party in power, the Akhilesh Yadav government would have found a way to put an end to this," says Devendra Kumar Sharma, a local.

In Hathras, a small city just outside of Aligarh, few are aware of the RSS' ghar wapasi plans. Some locals, however, say Muslims in the Kumhari village of the city have been approached to convert to Hinduism. Asad Khan, a 32-year-old tea shop owner here, speaks of how some members of his community are lured into changing their faith. "Life is difficult," he says. "There is widespread poverty. Muslims fall into this trap because they are promised a better life."