Close X
Thursday, December 12, 2024
ADVT 
India

Poor Muslims In Agra Who Converted Will Be Given Ration Cards: Bajrang Dal

IANS, 09 Dec, 2014 12:40 PM
    A Bajrang Dal leader said Tuesday that all the 300 poor Muslims who he said had embraced Hinduism here will be given ration cards they badly lacked.
     
    Amid claims by one of the 300 that they were forced to give up Islam, Bajrang Dal's Ajju Chauhan said everyone in the group would be now taught Hindu rituals.
     
    The Bajrang Dal organised the conversion ceremony Monday.
     
    Chauhan, the group's co-convener, said Tuesday that all those who converted to Hinduism would be "Sanskritised". They would be registered as voters and would get ration cards. 
     
    He said the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), to which the Bajrang Dal is allied, had been working "hard for three months to persuade them to convert to Hinduism". 
     
    The 300 members of some 60 Muslim families who reportedly embraced Hinduism Monday evening live in a slum on the outskirts of the Taj city -- and are miserably poor.
     
    Most of them had lived near Madhu Nagar on Gwalior Road for 17 long years after migrating either from West Bengal or Bangladesh. 
     
    Agra's Muslim leaders mostly declined to comment on the episode.
     
    But one Muslim scholar who did not want to be quoted by name alleged that those who converted were not Muslims.
     
    "It is true that they are all from outside Agra, perhaps from Bangladesh, and had been living here illegally as they have no voter, Adhaar or ration cards," he said.
     
    Munira, one of the 300, alleged they were lured to the event on the promise of giving them a plot of land and ration cards.
     
    "We were taken to a place where a fire ceremony was on," Munira told ABP news channel. "We were made to sit there. We became panicky. We were told to pray to Hindu gods. We did whatever they told us...
     
    "But now we are again reading the Holy Quran and our family members offered namaz today," he added.
     
    Agra's Senior Superintendent of Police Shalabh Mathur said no complaint had been registered regarding the event. "We will take action if there is a complaint."
     
    A Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Premendra Jain, wondered if Bangladeshis could be allowed to live in India if they give up Islam.
     
    "We have been demanding the expulsion of all Bangladeshis living illegally in India," Jain told IANS. 
     
    "Now these people have been converted to Hinduism. Does it mean all those staying in India illegally will be allowed to stay here if they convert?"

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Five killed in Pakistan firing in Jammu

    Five killed in Pakistan firing in Jammu
    Pakistan Rangers Monday resorted to indiscriminate firing along the international border in Jammu district, killing five civilians and injuring...

    Five killed in Pakistan firing in Jammu

    Will Modi's broom sweep away legal cobwebs?

    Will Modi's broom sweep away legal cobwebs?
    The Narendra Modi government is determined to clean up the country in more ways than one. In an ambitious move, the government intends to junk...

    Will Modi's broom sweep away legal cobwebs?

    Patna stampede: Probe team records statements of officials, injured

    Patna stampede: Probe team records statements of officials, injured
    The panel probing the Dussehra day stampede at the Gandhi Maidan here recorded the statements of top officials and the injured Sunday and may...

    Patna stampede: Probe team records statements of officials, injured

    Pakistan violates ceasefire in Kashmir

    Pakistan violates ceasefire in Kashmir
    The Pakistan Army fired at Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir Sunday, violating a 2003 ceasefire, the defence ministry said....

    Pakistan violates ceasefire in Kashmir

    Punjab: 40 kg heroin seized in Ludhiana

    Punjab: 40 kg heroin seized in Ludhiana
    In one of the biggest drug seizures in Punjab in recent months, 40 kg of heroin was seized from a truck near Ludhiana district Saturday, officials said.

    Punjab: 40 kg heroin seized in Ludhiana

    Toll in Patna stampede rises to 33, probe begins

    Toll in Patna stampede rises to 33, probe begins
    Bihar Police said 29 people are seriously injured and undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) here....

    Toll in Patna stampede rises to 33, probe begins