Turn Hindu, become Indian? Conversions targeted Bangla immigrants

The Muslim community in Uttar Pradesh is wary of the aggressive ‘reconversion’ taken up by elements of the Sangh Parivar. It feels it’s primarily a political exercise with eye on the assembly election of 2017. However, the people selected for the ‘ghar vapasi’ programme is what the community is worried about. Most of the 70 Muslims converted to Hinduism in Agra, they say, are illegal migrants from Bangladesh who could be a security threat to the country. The Sangh Parivar has virtually legalized their presence in India by converting them to Hinduism.

The Agra incident, according to Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali, a noted Muslim cleric, was another example how fundamentalist forces create a wedge between communities. “It is politics of hatred being played out for nefarious purposes,” he said, adding that if the “converts” were indeed illegal immigrants, then it was a serious matter that foreigners were being mainstreamed through the conversion route.

Could this be a reversal of the situation in border states like West Bengal, where illegal entrants from across the border are given nationality papers and later used as voters by particular political parties?

Athar Husain of the Centre for Objective Research and Development (CORD) said irrespective of the politics surrounding the incident, it is a blot on the society. “In case the participants are Indian citizens, it speaks volumes about the failure of the state to provide basic necessities to its citizens if some persons are ready to let go of their faith for the promise of a BPL card and a plot of land.”

And if they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, as is being made out in some quarters, it is a pointer to a serious security lapse. “It means that illegal immigrants can be accepted into the mainstream society if they decide to change their faith and accept Hinduism in this manner.” The political grandstanding about going tough on illegal immigrants would appear to be eyewash, he said.

“Any illegal immigrant should first be treated as a foreigner and later as a Muslim or a Hindu. But this incident gives a new twist to the issue –a dangerous alien, may be an ISI agent, could be welcome if he agrees to embrace Hinduism!”

He also insisted that if conversion is to be condemned, then the conversion of poor and downtrodden Hindus, especially Dalits, to Christianity and Dalits, also must be equally condemned.

Farid Abbasi, who runs a communications company, said that apparently it was a ploy to test the socio-political and communal environment in Uttar Praadesh before the 2017 Assembly election. “First it was the love jehad and now it is re-conversion. The attempt obviously is to have a strategy in place that can work for electoral polarization,” he said. But he too felt that if the participants in the Agra campaign were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh then it could lead to a big security lapse.

“Any anti-Indian operative from the neighbouring country can sneak into India and get converted to Hinduism to avoid suspicion. This gives rise to dangerous possibilities,” he said, questioning the indifference of the state government towards the incident.

Many other members of Muslim community also acknowledge that conversion of poor Hindus to Islam is often reported from various districts and that, too, is not correct.

A spokesman of the UP Congress refused to comment on the issue, saying that the party had decided not to offer any reaction since it was a sensitive issue. Refusing to be named, the spokesman, however, felt that it was an unfortunate incident and could be part of the diversionary tactics to shift public attention from the Central government’s failures on all fronts.

Meanwhile, the Akhilesh Yadav government has taken a serious note of the incident and has directed district superintendents of police to ensure that such incidents do not happen again anywhere. However, the accused named in the FIR filed in Agra on Wednesday have not been arrested yet.

A spokesman of the state’s home department said the Director General of Police had sent directives to all the SSPs and SPs to check any such incident from recurring anywhere in the state by putting their local intelligence units on alert. The spokesman also said the government was aware that a large scale conversion campaign had been planned in Aligarh on December 25. “We are gathering all relevant information and will remain watchful that nothing untoward happens,” said the spokesman.

Firangimahali said forced conversion is a crime and stern action must be taken against anyone who organizes this. “Although an FIR has been lodged against the accused, they must be arrested quickly. It is also against the freedom of religious belief that has been guaranteed by our Constitution,” he added.

He felt that there was a sinister design behind choosing December 25 as the date for the next large-scale conversion planned in Aligarh. “On this day the Christians celebrate Christmas all over the world and any such incident in India will send damaging signals to the international community about religious freedom in India,” he said. He urged the Central government to urgently intervene and take measures to stop the proposed event.