No Entry, No Exit

Conversion is a complex and delicate issue that has been obfuscated and vitiated when viewed in a communal and chauvinistic context. The 'savarna' response to dalit conversion as expressed in anti-conversion laws, under the guise of protecting the dalits, traps them in a 'no entry, no exit' situation. This article lays down a theoretical framework within a fourfold discourse, seeking to analyse conversion as 'dharmantar'. Each discourse considers the perspective of the converter and the converted, opening up in turn issues of civil rights (including that of dalits) that must not be compromised. It is necessary to view conversion as a 'process' rather than an event, if one is to address the complexities involved.