Religious Conversion in India

“James has provided an invaluable resource for the church and, indeed, the larger Indian society, through his careful study of the 1956 Niyogi Committee Report. Manohar insightfully demonstrates that this nearly one-thousand-page report continues to provide the foundation and frame for modern Indian consciousness concerning such vital themes such as ‘conversion,’ ‘Christian identity,’ ‘Hindu nationalism,’ ‘the church,’ and ‘communalism.’ In short, contemporary Indian attitudes toward Christianity, coupled with the vital resurgence of the RSS and related organizations, cannot be fully understood without understanding the oversized influence of the Niyogi report on the rise of how modern-day Hindi nationalism is understood in contemporary India.”


—Timothy C. Tennent, Asbury Theological Seminary





“This book is the outcome of thorough research on the Niyogi Committee Report, which provides readers with a deeper understanding of the attitude of the Hindu Nationalist Movement toward Christian missionary activities. In this sophisticated study, James . . . analyzes key aspects of the report in relation to major thinkers and Hindu nationalist ideology. . . . I highly recommend this volume for its critical assessment of the report and the Hindu Nationalist Movement. It will be an invaluable resource for scholars and students of Christian theology as well as for general readers who are interested in the field of interreligious relations.”


—Sebastian Kim, Fuller Theological Seminary





“The Niyogi Report is often republished, but with annotations by the RSS. Its critique by genuine scholars is now invisible. This study is therefore an important refreshing of memory. In many ways, the Niyogi Report was the first real manufactured or ‘fake news.’ The detailed recalling of documentary evidence by James exposes that in more than ample manner.”


—John Dayal, Secretary-General of the All India Christian Council (AICC)





“The significance of this work lies in its focus upon the first breakaway from the legal tenets of even-handed secular safeguards of religious toleration and multicultural diversity guaranteed by India’s Constitution. . . . The scholarship exhibited by James within this volume can be seen as a display of the nexus between faith and learning. That a serious scholar has produced such a careful study reflects a willingness to challenge those points where rational analysis and religious belief meet.”


—Robert Eric Frykenberg, University of Wisconsin—Madison, retired