CHANDIGARH: Just a short while ago, in its October 10- October 16, 2007 edition, the WSN had focussed on the evangelical exercises aimed at effecting religious conversions even among the Sikhs in certain quarters in India. It had underlined how efforts by some of the sects and cults "to impact, wean away,  brainwash or coerce members of the Sikh community into accepting Christianity have been very serious". 

Now more andmore reports are emerging in popular media about such activities. Besides nationwide programs in Hindi, Punjabi television channels have been deluged by Christian programs even though the Christian population of Punjab is less than 1%. So much so that even the Jalandhar Doordarshan beams a lot of such propaganda stuff. Aimed at the Sikh youth, animated films and children’s books on Christianity are freely and regularly distributed by missionaries. Because of the strong  adherence to tradition by Sikhs, missionaries have attempted to repackage Christianity. Jesus is called “Satguru”, church is referred to as “Satsang” and choir singing is called “Kirtan”. Choir boys in Punjabi churches wear turbans to attempt to minimize the variation between Sikhism and Christianity.

However, despite these attempts to disguise Christianity as a version of Sikhism, missionaries still cannot hide their intent: to destroy the Sikh faith. While there have been some cases of genuine conversions, economically disadvantaged and illiterate Sikhs often complain that missionaries are using extortive practices such as bribing them with material possessions to change their religion. Such provocative evangelism in Punjab does not always  go unnoticed by the local community.

The Open Door Church run by Pastor Harbhajan Singh, a landlord who converted to Christianity from Sikhism, has aggressively converted over 2,800 members of the Khojewala village community. In February of 2004, Singh made derogatory remarks against several Sikh gurus including Guru Granth Sahib. This led to several protests by Sikh youths in front Singh’s church in the. The conflict was ultimately resolved by police intervention and an unconditional apology by Harbhajan Singh. Meanwhile, Christian media painted this incident as an example of “Christian persecution.”

A recent study showed that at least 800,000 are converted to Christianity every year throughout India. In the coming years, this number can significantly increase with attacks on the Sikh faith.