Conversion row: Digvijay Singh pitches for 'Freedom of Religion Act'

Bhopal: Amid voices advocating for a stringent anti-conversion law in the country, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh here on Sunday said instead of anti- conversion law, India needs a ‘Freedom of Religion Act’. “Instead of anti-conversion law we need ‘freedom of religion act’,” Singh told reporters in an informal chat. [caption id=“attachment_1800535” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh. PTI[/caption] His statement comes at a time when RSS and VHP have been advocating for strong anti-conversion law following a nationwide political row over instances of conversions and RSS and VHP’s ‘Ghar Wapsi’ campaign. Singh said that he was averse to conversion by force or inducement and these two things should encompass freedom of religion act. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said that a campaign is being run in the country propagating the fact that Muslim population would surpass the Hindus’ count by 2060, which, he said was incorrect. Without disclosing any name of those running such campaign, Singh said that a false estimate was being given that the Muslim population was around 3 per cent in 1951 which escalated to 13 per cent now. He said that the Muslim population was 11 per cent in 1951. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the senior leader said Modi is a good event manager and orator but his speeches lack content. Singh said Modi’s political future depends on how he gets along with RSS and VHP in days to come. PTI