Alleging that the people were bribed and forced to convert to Hinduism, Mayawati said that the government needed to respond to these serious allegations, adding, "It is the responsibility of the party that comes to power to ensure people are allowed to follow their faiths without facing any discrimination. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that forcible conversions do not take place."
The incident, in which a 'ghar vapsi' or reconversion ceremony was carried out in the Madhunagar slum in Agra, has caused widespread condemnation, after the Muslims involved said that they were led to believe that they had no idea that the plan was to 'reconver't' them to Hinduism.
A report in the Indian Express quoted Ismail Khan, the ‘pradhan’ of the of the 57 families as saying one BJD man he identified as Kishan Lal merely told the families that they would be getting BPL cards, which would make them eligible for a host of sops, including subsidised schooling and medical arrangements.
“He said on the day our names were registered, big people would come to our basti, and even the media. I saw no danger in this, and agreed immediately. It was decided, that the event would be held on Monday,” he said.
But on the given day, when it became apparent that the ceremony was actually a reconversion rite and not actually a presentation of BPL cards, the villagers were too afraid to protest.
Farhan, a slum dweller, told INNLIVE, "If 40 people in saffron scarves come and stand on your head, you will do just as they want."
"We began to get worried, but could say nothing for fear of the powerful people. They asked our men to wear their skull caps, read some text, and throw some things into a fire.
They asked them if they were happy being Hindus now. Everyone was inside the basti, and there could have been trouble. We are poor people with nowhere to go, and if our landlord tells us to leave, we will have nowhere to go. What could the men have said but yes?”, the Indian Express quoted another slum dweller, Murshida Begum as saying.
Apparently, the new 'reconverts' were presented with idols of the goddess Kali after the ceremony, which required them to wash the feet of idols with milk.
The red faced Bajrang Dal for its part, is now claiming that the families are changing their stories due to fear.
Bajrang Dal functionary Ajju Chauhan confirmed that the re-conversion had indeed taken place, but will the full consent of those involved. "All these people have Hindu ancestors. They just did 'ghar vapsi'," he said, adding, "They were not lured by ration cards or houses. They wanted to lead clean lives."
“I strongly object to this term conversion. Why don’t you call it homecoming?” Prakash Sharma, former national convenor of Bajrang Dal told the Hindustan Times.
As for the new Hindu 'reconverts' - they are back to offering namaz. The report quotes village 'pradhan' Ismail as saying he had offered namaz on Tuesday after no one from the saffron outfits turned up in their neighbourhood.
Responding to the opposition in Parliament, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the Rajya Sabha that as far as he was aware a FIR had been filed in the case of forced conversions. "To my knowledge FIR has been registered over the issue," Naqvi told the Rajya Sabha. The minister also told the opposition that it was wrong to drag in any organisation into the issue for political reasons.
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