“In Every Town, Country and Village my Name Will Be Sung”: Hindu Missions in India and Abroad

Abstract

Christian missionary activity in India has been a major irritant to many Hindus for more than a century: conversion to Christianity was seen as a betrayal of Indian identity, a rejection of the inherited age-old dharma, a “denationalization.” India ceased issuing visas to foreign Christian missionaries from 1957 on, and several Indian states have since introduced legislations making conversion to Christianity a criminal offence. While Christians appeal to a section of the Indian constitution that guarantees freedom of religion, Hindus argue that conversion to Christianity entails social and cultural uprooting, causing social unrest and thus is unconstitutional.