HINDU ‘DEFENSE ARMY’ TO FIGHT CHRISTIAN CONVERSIONS IN INDIARashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu extremist organization in India, has announced plans to establish a number of “Defense Army” groups in Chattisgarh, a region in east-central India. In a two-day training session held for recruits in mid-May, Dilip Singh Judeo, former Minister of Forestry and Agriculture, encouraged the recruits to “move into the interior parts of the country to check religious conversions.” Christian leaders are concerned about the development. “We have enough evidence that they are targeting Christians,” said John Dayal, general secretary of the All India Christian Council. Up to 20,000 Christian members of tribal groups have been forcibly ”reconverted” in a campaign initiated by Judeo in the past five years.”Local RSS leaders, including Judeo, have gone on record saying their main target is Christian missionaries,” he said.
