Alappuzha (Kerala) : Notwithstanding
a united Opposition cornering the NDA Government over the conversions
issue for the past one week, right wing organisation Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) has facilitated the reconversions of a batch of 30
persons belonging to eight families of Scheduled Caste (SC) Christians
under the ritual ‘ghar wapsi’ (home coming) in this district.
The “ghar vapsi” programme in progress in Kerala’s Alappuzha.
The ritual was organised by district wing
of VHP at a local temple at Kanichanallor on Sunday. VHP leader Prathap
G Padikkal, who arranged the function, said the families “expressed
their desire to come back to Hinduism” and VHP “only facilitated the
return”.
He said their ancestors had converted to Christianity some decades
ago. Another 150 families in the district have expressed their wish to
embrace Hindusiam and VHP would arrange their ‘home coming’ also, he
said.
According to reports, the RSS has deputed
58 pracharaks under Mukund Rao Panshikar for the task, centred around
‘dharm jagran’ (religious awareness) — this is the maximum number of
pracharaks for any single RSS activity.
Its ‘ghar wapsi’ plans include a holy dip
of the “reconverts” in the Godavari during the Kumbh at Nashik next
August. Over 50,000 who “returned” in the last five years are expected
to show up.
These plans, RSS sources said, were
discussed in Nagpur last month during a conclave of more than 1,200
people involved in ‘dharm jagran’ activities.
The meeting, held from November 7 to 9,
was attended by Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Sarkaryawah Bhaiyaji Joshi
and sah-sarkaryawah Krishna Gopal.
The logjam in the Rajya Sabha over the
conversion issue continued on Monday as the Opposition once again
demanded a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over this issue.
Last week, more than 100 Muslims were
converted to Hinduism in a mass ceremony organised in Agra by an RSS
offshoot triggering a massive debate over this issue across the country.
Soon after the reported Agra conversion,
the BJP had said it was planning to hold a similar event on December 25
in Aligarh but the Uttar Pradesh Police have refused to give permission
for it.
However, the Uttar Pradesh State Minority
Commission on Sunday described the mass conversion of Muslims in Agra
as “an act of fraud and a dubious exercise, which has no connection with
the serious business of change of faith”.
Talking to reporters in Aligarh, the
four-member Commission — which had visited Agra on Saturday — however,
hailed the role played by Hindu residents of Agra and the district
administration.
“We have no hesitation to state that had
not the members of the Hindu community in Agra, particularly those
residing in Vednagar locality where the so-called conversion ceremony
took place, acted with foresight and humanitarian values, the situation
could have taken an ugly turn,” it said.
The Commission members — Mufti Zulfiqar
Ali, Shafi Azmi, Suhail Ayyub Jinjari and Nafeesul Hasan — also praised
the role played by the Valmiki community and prominent religious leaders
of the Hindu community in Agra.
“Our discussions with prominent members
of the Hindu community in Agra have convinced us that they did not
endorse such conversions. They feel that conversions carried out by such
dubious means are not in the interests of the community,” the
Commission said.
Meanwhile, BJP national president Amit
Shah, during a meeting with the All India Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIMMK) in Chennai on Sunday, has said the ruling party at Centre had no
hand in the conversions reported in Agra.
Shah, who met the AIMMK president NKN
Sadakhatullah and general secretary Ali, assured them that BJP was in
favour of bringing a law to ban forced conversions. AIMMK has supported
the NDA alliance in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.(December 24,2014)
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