“Shaadi ki taarikh tali hai bas, shaadi ruk nahi gayi hai (the wedding date has just been postponed, it hasn’t been called off),” says Satprakash Navman, convenor of the Aligarh unit of the Dharam Jagaran Manch in Aligarh, about the “ghar vapasi” programme that was called off by the RSS.

“Our focus is now on Christians, but we will not leave anyone. We will target Muslims after this. Over the last 20 years, we have reconver­ted at least a lakh people in Brij Pradesh alone, the part of UP which has Mathura, Lord Kris­hna’s birthplace,” he goes on to boast.

With the administration flexing its muscles and the protests by a section of civil society taking effect, the Christmas Day event had to be put off but the VHP, Bajrang Dal and its ilk say ‘ghar vapasi’ events will be back and in a not-so-distant future. “We will now stand outside churches and watch for any Hindus coming out on Christmas,” says Navman. “We know the Hindus in the areas we work. We will catch hold of any...