Shuddhi

Shuddhi is Sanskrit for purification. It is a term used for reconverting those that are deemed to have converted away from Hinduism back to Hinduism.

For the 2017 film, see Shuddhi (film).

Shuddhi movement

The socio-political movement, derived from ancient rite of shuddhikaran,[1] or purification was started by the Arya Samaj, and its founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati [2] and his followers like swami Shraddhanand, who also worked on the Sangathan consolidation aspect of Hinduism, in North India, especially Punjab in early 1900s, though it gradually spread across India.[2] Shuddhi had a social reform agenda behind its belligerent rationale and was aimed at abolishing the practise of untouchability by converting outcasts from other religions to Hinduism and integrating them into the mainstream community by elevating their position, and instilling self-confidence and self-determination in them.[2][3][4] The movement strove to reduce the conversions of Hindus to Islam and Christianity, which were underway at the time.[2]

In 1923, Swami Shraddhanand founded the 'Bhartiya Hindu Shuddhi Mahasabha' (Indian Hindu Purification Council) and pushed the agenda of reconversion, which eventually created a flashpoint between Hindus and Muslims as Muslims were the recipients of the violence.. Mahatma Gandhi made a comment on Swami Shraddhananda in an article titled 'Hindu-Muslim-Tensions: Causes and Resistance' in the May 29, 1922 issue of Young India.

Swami Shraddhananda has also become a character of disbelief. I know that his speeches are often provocative. Just as most Muslims think that every non-Muslim will one day convert to Islam, unfortunately Shraddhananda also believes that every Muslim can be initiated into the Aryan religion. Shraddhananda ji is fearless and brave. He alone has built a great Brahmacharya Ashram (Gurukul) in the holy Ganges. But they are in a hurry and it will move soon. He inherited it from the Aryan society."

Gandhi further wrote Dayanand that "he narrowed one of the most liberal and tolerant religions of the world." Swami responded to Gandhi's article that "If Aryasamaji is true to themselves, then the allegations of Mahatma Gandhi or any other person and invasions also cannot obstruct the trends of Arya Samaj." Shraddhanand followingly kept moving towards his goal.

The main point of contention was the reconversion of Malkana Rajputs in western United Province [5] As a result, the movement became controversial and antagonized the Muslims populace [3] and also led to the death of the leader of the movement, Swami Shraddhanand in 1926. After Swami Shraddhanand died this movement continued.[6]

On 23 February 1928, many Catholic Gaudes in Goa were re-converted to Hinduism notwithstanding the opposition of the Church and the Portuguese government.[7] This was carried out by a Hindu religious institution from Mumbai known as Masur Ashram, the converts were given Sanskrit Hindu names, but the Portuguese government put impediments in their way to get legal sanction for their new Hindu names.[8] 4851 Catholic Gaudes from Tiswadi, 2174 from Ponda, 250 from Bicholim and 329 from Sattari were re-converted to Hinduism after nearly 400 years. The total number of the converts to Hinduism was 7815.[9] However, in Northern India this movement faced stiff opposition from Islamic organisations and the Sunni Barelvi organisation All India Jamaat Raza-e-Mustafa[10] in Bareilly city, which attempted to counter the efforts of the Shuddhi movement to convert Muslims to Hinduism in British India.[11]

See also

• Shuddhikaran
• Ghar wapasi

References

1. Hindu-Muslim Relations in British India: A Study of Controversy, Conflict, and Communal Movements in Northern India 1923-1928, by G. R. Thursby. Published by BRILL, 1975. ISBN 90-04-04380-2. Lame'Page 136.
2. Dayanand and the Shuddhi Movement Indian Political Tradition, by D.K Mohanty. Published by Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. ISBN 81-261-2033-9. Page 116.
3. untouchable assertion The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-century India, by Nandini Gooptu. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-521-44366-0. Page 157.
4. The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India, by Gail Minault, Akhtar. Published by Columbia University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-231-05072-0. Page 193.
5. The Fundamentalism Project, by Martin E. Marty, R. Scott Appleby, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Published by University of Chicago Press, 1991.ISBN 0226508781. Page 564.
6. Hindu Nationalism and the Language of Politics in Late Colonial India, by William Gould. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-521-83061-3. Page 133.
7. Ghai, R. K. (1990). Shuddhi movement in India: a study of its socio-political dimensions. Commonwealth Publishers. pp. 208 pages (see page 103). ISBN 9788171690428.
8. Ralhan, Om Prakash (1998). Post-independence India: Indian National Congress, Volumes 33-50. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. pp. 6330 pages (see pages 304–305). ISBN 9788174888655.
9. Godbole, Shriranga (December 2010). Sanskrutik Vartapatra. Pune: Sanskrutik Vartapatra. pp. 61–66 & 112.
10. "JRM". jamatrazaemustafa.org. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
11. Hasan, M.; Jamia Millia Islamia (India). Dept. of History (1985). Communal and pan-Islamic trends in colonial India. Manohar. Retrieved 2015-07-28.

Further reading

• Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India: Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, Volume III-I, by Kenneth W. Jones. Published by Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-521-24986-4.
• Shuddhi Movement in India: A Study of Its Socio-political Dimensions, by R. K. Ghai. Published by Commonwealth Publishers, 1990.
• Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths, by Chetan Bhatt. Published by Berg Publishers, 2001. ISBN 1-85973-348-4.
• Religion in South Asia: Religious Conversion and Revival Movements in South Asia in Medieval and Modern Times, by Geoffrey A. Oddie. Published by Manohar, 1991. Chapter 10: Reconversion to Hinduism: The Shuddhi of the Arya Samaj. Page 215.