Tuesday, December 23, 2025
ADVT 
India

Poor Muslims In Agra Who Converted Will Be Given Ration Cards: Bajrang Dal

IANS, 09 Dec, 2014 12:40 PM
    A Bajrang Dal leader said Tuesday that all the 300 poor Muslims who he said had embraced Hinduism here will be given ration cards they badly lacked.
     
    Amid claims by one of the 300 that they were forced to give up Islam, Bajrang Dal's Ajju Chauhan said everyone in the group would be now taught Hindu rituals.
     
    The Bajrang Dal organised the conversion ceremony Monday.
     
    Chauhan, the group's co-convener, said Tuesday that all those who converted to Hinduism would be "Sanskritised". They would be registered as voters and would get ration cards. 
     
    He said the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), to which the Bajrang Dal is allied, had been working "hard for three months to persuade them to convert to Hinduism". 
     
    The 300 members of some 60 Muslim families who reportedly embraced Hinduism Monday evening live in a slum on the outskirts of the Taj city -- and are miserably poor.
     
    Most of them had lived near Madhu Nagar on Gwalior Road for 17 long years after migrating either from West Bengal or Bangladesh. 
     
    Agra's Muslim leaders mostly declined to comment on the episode.
     
    But one Muslim scholar who did not want to be quoted by name alleged that those who converted were not Muslims.
     
    "It is true that they are all from outside Agra, perhaps from Bangladesh, and had been living here illegally as they have no voter, Adhaar or ration cards," he said.
     
    Munira, one of the 300, alleged they were lured to the event on the promise of giving them a plot of land and ration cards.
     
    "We were taken to a place where a fire ceremony was on," Munira told ABP news channel. "We were made to sit there. We became panicky. We were told to pray to Hindu gods. We did whatever they told us...
     
    "But now we are again reading the Holy Quran and our family members offered namaz today," he added.
     
    Agra's Senior Superintendent of Police Shalabh Mathur said no complaint had been registered regarding the event. "We will take action if there is a complaint."
     
    A Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Premendra Jain, wondered if Bangladeshis could be allowed to live in India if they give up Islam.
     
    "We have been demanding the expulsion of all Bangladeshis living illegally in India," Jain told IANS. 
     
    "Now these people have been converted to Hinduism. Does it mean all those staying in India illegally will be allowed to stay here if they convert?"

    MORE India ARTICLES

    SC appoints Justice Shah to head SIT on black money

    SC appoints Justice Shah to head SIT on black money
    The Supreme Court Thursday appointed Justice (retd) M.B. Shah as the chairman of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to investigate the stashing away of black money in foreign banks and suggest ways to bring it back to India.

    SC appoints Justice Shah to head SIT on black money

    My father is Rajiv Gandhi: Priyanka to Modi's daughter comment

    My father is Rajiv Gandhi: Priyanka to Modi's daughter comment
    In a scathing retort to Narendra Modi's reported "daughter" comment, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Thursday said she was the daughter of late former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, while controversy-hit Doordarshan clarified there was no "deliberate editing" of the BJP prime ministerial candidate's interview.

    My father is Rajiv Gandhi: Priyanka to Modi's daughter comment

    Blast at Chennai Central Station, One dead, at least 14 injured

    Blast at Chennai Central Station, One dead, at least 14 injured
    The latest news reports from various sources suggest that there was a blast at the Chennai Central Station. 

    Blast at Chennai Central Station, One dead, at least 14 injured

    India hard hit by terrorism from Pakistan: US report

    India hard hit by terrorism from Pakistan: US report
    India remained severely affected by and vulnerable to terrorism, including from Pakistan-based groups and their affiliates as well as left-wing violent extremists, last year, according to a new US report.

    India hard hit by terrorism from Pakistan: US report

    Digvijaya acknowledges relationship with TV anchor on Twitter

    Digvijaya acknowledges relationship with TV anchor on Twitter
    Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh Wednesday acknowledged his relationship with TV anchor Amrita Rai on Twitter after intimate photographs of the two appeared on the social networking site. He said he plans to wed Rai soon.

    Digvijaya acknowledges relationship with TV anchor on Twitter

    Police lodge FIR against Modi for poll code breach

    Police lodge FIR against Modi for poll code breach
    Gujarat Police Wednesday registered a FIR against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the Election Commission's directions for violating law by displaying the party's "lotus" symbol and delivering a political speech after casting his vote.

    Police lodge FIR against Modi for poll code breach