It seems that, for all our talk of freedom, curbing it still seems to be the way to go. The RSS has planned a mass conversion of 1000 Muslim and 4000 Christian families into Hinduism. Ironically, the 'Ghar Wapsi' (returning home) programme is scheduled to take place on Christmas this year. Organizers claim that this event, to be held in Aligarh, will be one of the biggest conversion programmes, ever. Interestingly, there has been a call to ban conversions in Parliament. "Let there be anti-conversion laws in all the states and at the Centre also," Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said at the end of a three- hour discussion in the Lok Sabha on "conversion by inducement", as reported by The Hindu

So, how were these families chosen?

Supposedly, the Christian families belong to the Valmiki Samaj, the 'feet' of the Hindu society, while the Muslim families are descendants of Thakurs and Brahmins who only had to be convinced of their 'lost pride'.

What is the significance of the time and place?

"Aligarh was chosen because it's time we wrest the Hindu city from Muslims. It is a city of brave Rajputs and their temples on whose remains Muslim institutions have been established," RSS regional pracharak Rajeshwar Singh told Economic Times.

"If they come to us on Christmas, it is the biggest rejection of their faith."