Is Nehru’s Hand Dirty in Forced Christian Conversion in Nagaland? Here Is the Historical Account

Key Points:

There have been many allegations in Parliament by the ruling party against Jawaharlal Nehru and how he handled certain matters. But it is not limited to Parliament. People on social media have also been a hub for many such controversies, ranging from claims about Mahatma Gandhi being gay to alleged affairs between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten. Stories related to many incidents have always attracted public attention, such as theories about Subhas Chandra Bose not dying in a plane crash or Lala Lajpat Rai’s meeting with Subhas Chandra Bose. There are many incidents, allegations, and theories.

In a video shared by India Unravelled — a right wing youtube channel — one such story has been presented related to Jawaharlal Nehru and Harry Verrier Elwin. The video explains how Nagaland became a Christian-majority state with about 88% Christian population. How did this happen? How did a state with a tribal majority develop such a large Christian population?

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According to the video, the story of Nagaland’s conversion to Christianity begins by mentioning a British man who was favoured by Jawaharlal Nehru. Following Indian independence, “Nehru did not integrate Nagaland with mainstream India. He isolated it,” the video claims.

It further states that the Nehru government strengthened the Inner Line Permit system in Nagaland, which required Indians to obtain special permission to enter the state. The stated reason was to protect tribals from mainland civilisation. As a result, Hindu organisations were allegedly kept out, while Christian missionaries were allowed to enter the region and operate freely without interruption.

The video then mentions the British officer favoured by Jawaharlal Nehru — the British missionary-turned-anthropologist Harry Verrier Elwin — who was said to be at the centre of this policy. It claims that he was given extraordinary influence over tribal policy in independent India.

“Elwin openly argued that tribals must be shielded from Hindu society,” the video states. It further claims that Elwin embedded himself deeply in tribal communities and married a tribal woman, gaining the trust of the community and social legitimacy. According to the video, the conversion of Nagaland was not organic but happened because of Nehru’s state-backed isolation and “uninterrupted proselytisation by missionaries.”

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However, the video is not verified and is based on perceptions and allegations. It is widely reported that after India’s independence, Nehru adopted a policy of restricted contact for Nagaland, influenced by anthropologist Verrier Elwin, which aimed to protect tribal culture.¹

Harry Verrier Elwin was born in 1902 and was a British-born Indian anthropologist, ethnologist, and tribal activist. He came to India in 1927 as a Christian missionary to join the Christa Seva Sangha in Pune, Maharashtra. Initially, he was a priest, but later he was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, which led him to leave the priesthood.

He began working with the Indian National Congress and lived among tribal communities in central India. He became an Indian citizen in 1954 and was appointed as the Anthropological Adviser to the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in Shillong.

Reference:

1. Dalvoy.com. “Verrier Elwin’s Philosophy in Arunachal Pradesh | UPSC Mains Anthropology-Paper-II 2025.” Dalvoy.com, 2025. https://www.dalvoy.com/en/upsc/mains/previous-years/2025/anthropology-paper-ii/verrier-elwin-philosophy-arunachal-pradesh.

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