Wednesday, December 24, 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

    How Delhi voted in Lok Sabha polls

    How Delhi voted in Lok Sabha polls
    Delhi Thursday recorded over 64.77 percent voter turnout - the highest in three decades - in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

    How Delhi voted in Lok Sabha polls

    Mulayam receives Flak for controversial comment,'Rapists do not deserve death, boys commit mistakes'

    Mulayam receives Flak for controversial comment,'Rapists do not deserve death, boys commit mistakes'
    In remarks that raised a storm, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said Thursday the death penalty in rape cases was "unfair" as boys make "mistakes".

    Mulayam receives Flak for controversial comment,'Rapists do not deserve death, boys commit mistakes'

    120 million vote in critical third phase of election

    120 million vote in critical third phase of election
    Some 120 million people Thursday voted in 14 states and union territories in a critical third phase of general election to pick 91 of the 543 MPs, including seven from the seat of power in New Delhi whose control is considered vital for any party to rule India.

    120 million vote in critical third phase of election

    219 file nominations in Punjab on last day

    219 file nominations in Punjab on last day
    Prominent among those who filed their nominations Wednesday were actor Vinod Khanna (BJP, Gurdaspur) and Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Sunil Jakhar (Congress, Ferozepur).

    219 file nominations in Punjab on last day

    Indian realty industry looks to BJP to lift fortunes

    Indian realty industry looks to BJP to lift fortunes
    The crisis-ridden real estate sector, feeling neglected by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, is warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to lift its fortunes.

    Indian realty industry looks to BJP to lift fortunes

    Indian spacecraft Orbiter halfway to Mars

    Indian spacecraft Orbiter halfway to Mars
    India's maiden mission to Mars is on course, with its spacecraft Orbiter crossing the halfway mark on its voyage to the red planet, four months after it left Earth Dec 1.

    Indian spacecraft Orbiter halfway to Mars