UP saffron outfits to go ahead with 'ghar waapsi'

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) may have dumped the Agra mass conversion programme spearheaded by Rajeshwar Singh reportedly under pressure from the Centre, but other saffron outfits remained firm on holding “ghar waapsi” (home coming) programmes in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

“There is no question of bowing before any kind of pressure....even if it is from the Centre,” said a senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader here on Saturday.

The leader said that the outfit would continue to hold “ghar waapsi” programmes across the state. “The government will do its work....we will do ours....there may be differences on some issues but that will not have any effect on our programmes,” he said. The leader, who was associated with the VHP as a senior functionary for Avadh (central parts of UP) region, said the outfit had been holding mass conversion programmes for the past several years.

Mass conversion

He also hinted that the VHP would be holding mass conversion programmes in the eastern and central regions of the state in the days to come. The remarks assume significance in the wake of dumping of Rajeshwar Singh, an RSS pracharak, who had been on the forefront in organising mass conversion programmes in parts of UP. Singh proceeded on “long leave” amid reports that he had been taken off his work.

The VHP had earlier deferred its plan to hold mass conversion program-mes during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi. 

The VHP had planned a big “ghar waapsi” programme at Varanasi on December 25, the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee but later called it off. “We have not cancelled our mass conversion programmes...they have only been deferred....it will continue to be on top of our agenda,” a VHP leader had then said.