Extremist Hindu groups in India plan to convert over 4000 Christian and 1000 Muslim families to Hinduism on Christmas day this year.
Past “conversion events” have been linked to acts of violence or deceptive practices to achieve the apparent “conversions.”
According to The Times of India, “This Christmas, the RSS plans to convert at least 4,000 Christian and 1,000 Muslim families into Hinduism under what it calls the ‘Ghar Wapsi’ (returning home) program”
Police in India's Uttar Pradesh state have said they will not allow Hindu nationalist groups to hold a religious conversion ceremony on Christmas Day.
Mohit Agarwal, senior police official in Aligarh town where the ceremony is planned, said "strict action" would be taken against the organisers.
Police have issued an order banning "assembly of four or more people" on the day and "strict action will be taken against any cadres of any party found involved in conversions", he added.
Aligarh has a substantial Muslim population and police said they would not give permission for any religious conversion ceremony to be held there as it could create a law and order problem.
Critics say the conversions - and re-conversions - in most cases allegedly involve force, fraud or inducement
Last week, more than 50 Muslim families were reportedly converted to Hinduism against their will in the town of Agra. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization that was linked to a forced conversion ceremony.
Those who were converted were poor rag-pickers from a slum and many of them told the BBC they had been promised food ration cards if they attended the ceremony. They also said they had no idea they were going to be converted to Hinduism. Fearing violence, the Muslims did not speak up until safely at home.
RSS has been linked to a variety of violent activities, and essentially functions as an armed paramilitary in India. They have been linked to riots, religious violence, and the demolition of non-Hindu religious structures. Many of the founding members of RSS favorably spoke about fascism and the Nazi movement.
The Hindu hardline group Bajrang Dal has threatened to hold street protests if they are not allowed to go ahead with the ceremony and BJP MP Yogi Adityanath has said he plans to attend it.
Hindu groups have often accused Christian missionaries and Muslims of converting poor, low-caste Dalits - formerly untouchables - and tribespeople with promises of a better life. In 1999, the RSS offshoot, Balrang Dal group, murdered Christian missionary, Dr. Graham Straines, on a medical mission in India. The perpetrators of the crime confessed to killing Dr. Straines and his family because of his efforts to teach local Indians about Christianity.
RSS leader Rajeshaw Singh said “RSS has taken possession of as many as 60 churches across the state, where no Christians worship now, ‘as they have all been re-converted to Hinduism’.” He later added "one day these churches will crumble and our country will belong to the Hindus alone)”
In the past few years, Hindu hardline groups have started organising reconversion rituals they call "ghar vapasi" - which means "returning home".
Ahead of its plans to organise the "biggest ever conversion camp" Dharam Jagaran Samiti, a western U.P.-based Hindutva group, sought donations to organise the camp.
The undated letters and pamphlets, addressed by Rajeshwar Singh who claimed that conversion is a "costly" affair. The letter seeks a donation of C$900 for converting a Muslim and C$370 for a Christian.
“In the eyes of RSS all those living in India are Hindus. RSS does not discriminate on the basis of caste and religion,” All India Publicity In-Charge of RSS, Manmohan Vaidya told reporters.
The issue caused outrage in parliament, with opposition MPs accusing hardline Hindus of undermining India's unity and secular nature.
Critics say Hindu hardline groups are flexing their muscles under the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Recently, a row broke out after government minister Niranjan Jyoti used an abusive term to refer to non-Hindus, by asking people at a public rally to choose between Ramzada (children of the Hindu God Ram) and Haramzada (bastards).
Mr Modi said he disapproved of her language but refused to sack her.
Meanwhile the The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also announced plans to convert Muslim and Christian families to Hinduism in Rae Bareli, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's constituency. Rae Bareli, a traditional Congress party stronghold, is the latest place in Uttar Pradesh to be picked by Hindu rightwing groups to convert members of minority communities to Hinduism.
Over 200 million Indians subscribe to beliefs other than Hinduism.