Swami Parmatmanand, a prominent nationalist religious leader (see photo), has called for fellow Hindus to behead Christian converts from Hinduism.
Parmatmanand was speaking at a mass rally in India’s central Chhattisgarh state. The protest was organised against an alleged rise in conversions of Hindus to Christianity and his audience included senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He said: ‘Keep a lathi (stick) at home. In our villages, people keep hand-axes. Why do they keep axes? Behead them – those who come for conversion. Now you’ll say that I am spreading hate although I’m a saint. But it’s important to ignite the fire sometimes. I am telling you; anyone who comes into your house, street, neighbourhood, village, don’t forgive them.
