Seeking to clear the air on ‘Ghar Wapsi’ (reconversion) controversy, BJP president Amit Shah asserted on Saturday that neither his party nor the NDA Government was involved in the programme and regretted that “no secular party” had come forward to introduce the Anti-Conversion Bill in the country.
“This is not a programme of the Government. We (BJP) are against forceful conversion. The so-called secular parties should support the BJP in bringing in a law to stop forceful conversion,” he told newspersons at Bengaluru, ruing that other “secular parties” have not backed such a Bill. “We seek the support of the so-called secular parties for a strong legislation against conversions,” he said pointing out that the BJP was in favour of such a law to check conversions.
“There is a need for a strong anti-conversion law to prevent conversions by anyone, be they Christians, Muslims or Hindus,” Shah said. On reports that the Congress planned to form Bharatiya Hindu Samaj on the lines of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Shah said everybody has the right to form such outfits. “All people — Muslims and Christians are independent to form such groups. Everybody has the right to do so,” he said.
The RSS also sought to clear its stand on ‘religious conversion’ in context to ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programmes. In Ahmedabad, its Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh, Manmohan Vaidya said the Sangh does not believe in conversion (Dharm-antaran) and as far as ‘home coming’ or ‘Ghar Wapsi’ is concerned, it is different from religious conversion.
Talking on the sidelines of the ongoing three-day, RSS Karyakarta Shibir (Gujarat region), Vaidya said ‘home coming’ was for those who had left their original faith and again wish to connect to their roots. It has nothing to do with conversion but it provides an opportunity to fulfil the natural urge to connect to one’s roots, which gives them larger cultural identity, he said.
“It is natural, legal and is being done since long. Even the Constitution of India has given freedom to select one’s faith,” he added. However, in an upfront statement the VHP, an RSS outfit, had on Friday clearly indicated that its ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programme would continue uninterrupted. “It is not a one-off mechanical act but a long process,” the VHP said.
The VHP also dismissed the suggestion that the withdrawal of its leader Rajeshwar Singh, who had initiated ‘Ghar Wapsi’ of Muslims in Agra, indicated that brakes were being applied on the programme. VHP international general secretary Champak Rai maintained that Singh was not a VHP worker.