12th October 2021 – The premier Sikh religious body, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) with headquarters in Amritsar, has launched a province-wide campaign to counter religious conversions of Sikhs at the hands of Christian missionaries in Punjab.
In the recent past, SGPC has come under severe criticism from within the Sikh community for ‘not doing enough’ to counter the increasing rates of Sikh conversion to Christianity in Punjab. The campaign is aimed at spreading the Sikh culture, tradition and heritage across many villages in the province. 150 teams of seven preachers each have been sent to different villages under this campaign. The ‘Door-to-Door Dharamsaal’ would use similar tactics used by the Christian missionaries and the traditional methods to promote Sikhism. As per the SGPC head Bibi Jagir Kaur “The campaign will not only bring firmness among Sikhs toward their faith, but also make the young generation take pride in their history and culture”.
In an earlier report published by HTC, Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Punjab. The main reasons for this widespread religious conversion are the lack of strong financial conditions and socio-economic inequality among different castes.
Other than the Sikh bodies, some Hindu organizations including the Arya Samaj and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also been very vocal towards the sensitive matter and toiling against religious conversions in the province. RSS has been able to re-convert many Hindu and Sikh families from Christianity. Several unverified videos are available on various social media platforms showing mass conversions. A Twitter account No conversion (https://twitter.com/noconversion) has many such videos.
