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Shankaracharya warns missionaries on conversions

The Grassroots Media Network, 25 nov 1999

The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal today said Hindus would be forced to resort to reconversion if Christian missionaries persisted with forcing people to change their faith.

Talking to newspersons in New Delhi today, the Shankaracharya appealed to the missionaries to stop conversions to bring about amity between the Hindu and Christian communities. "If they continued with conversions in the name of religious freedom, the Hindus would be left with no option but to commence the process of reconverting them back to the Hindu fold", he added.

The Shankaracharya, who declared open the meditation hall at the Kamakshi Mandir in Delhi, said he had just returned from an international conference of Hindu and Buddhist community leaders at Lumbini.

Though there was divergence of views between the two religions, the conference, which was attended by scholars from South East Asia and Sri Lanka, helped to identify the commonalities between the two faiths, he said.

He had also visited Nepal for a darshan at the Pashupatinath temple before arriving in Delhi last night. The Shankaracharya would be camping in the capital for four days and leave for Bangalore on Friday.

http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/nov/22chris.htm

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