Even as the issue of re-conversion has rocked Parliament proceedings for a week now, Francis D’Souza Deputy Chief Minister of Goa, a State with 26 per cent Christian, has called it a non-issue and Goa a conversion-free State.
“In Goa, there are no forced conversions of any sort. Goa is conversion-free that way. Everyone has a right to practice their own religion,” D’Souza told reporters after meeting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was in Goa to attend a social event. “I think there is no big issue. It is not a pressing issue that way,” said D’Souza. The Deputy Chief Minister had earlier courted controversy over calling himself a ‘Hindu-Christian’ and that India was already a Hindu Nation.
D’Souza also said that Goa did not need an anti-conversion Bill: “There are too many laws and there is no need to add to the laws. It has to be your own decision whether to choose your religion or notIJ” he said.