The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Math, Sri Jayendra Saraswati, today said politicians should keep off the issue of religious conversions and heads of various religious faiths should sit together to find a way out of the tangle

... While the religious leaders preached the need for sacrifices, politicians were dividing the nation on the lines of caste and religion for the sake of votes, he said.

(The Shankaracharya) said, one's religious faith was a personal affair. However, ... he did not agree with the view that people converted to other religions for spiritual benefits. "In almost all cases, it is the material benefits that is the reason for conversion".

If religious and social leaders get together, the issue of conversions could be resolved, he asserted. ...

Asked if the malaise of casteism in Hindu religion had not contributed to large-scale conversions to other religious faiths, (he) said, there were internal divisions in all religions (and) that caste clashes in south Tamil Nadu  were engineered by political parties.

(Source: The Indian Observer, 15 June, 1999)

On Religious Tolerance

It is time we realised that true religion involves a .. commitment to uphold truth, practice justice and to fight forces of evil not matter where they are found. A religions must find their common cause or shared responsibility in this context. When that happens the truth will dawn on us that religions are not each other's enemies, but fellow pilgrims moving towards the shrine of human wellbeing and social health.  - Swamy Agnivesh