Thursday, December 25, 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

    Amritsar's Mahabharat: 'Reluctant Contestant' vs 'Outsider'

    Amritsar's Mahabharat: 'Reluctant Contestant' vs 'Outsider'
    Amritsar is witnessing a political "Mahabharat" as two stalwarts fight it out for this Lok Sabha seat. The unique thing about the election in Amritsar this time is that the two main contestants, Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh of the Congress, do not belong to the city.

    Amritsar's Mahabharat: 'Reluctant Contestant' vs 'Outsider'

    Time to give back to country what I got in life: Nandan Nilekani

    Time to give back to country what I got in life: Nandan Nilekani
    Indian IT bellwether Infosys' co-founder Nandan Nilekani, who has declared assets worth Rs.7,770 crore ($1.3 billion), said that "it's time to give back to people and the country" what he got in life as he contests the Lok Sabha election.

    Time to give back to country what I got in life: Nandan Nilekani

    Terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir

    Terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir
    According to the latest news one person has been repotted to be killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

    Terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir

    India among 11 nations formally declared polio-free

    India among 11 nations formally declared polio-free
    India and 10 other Asian countries were formally declared polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) Thursday.

    India among 11 nations formally declared polio-free

    Rahul promises to create 100 mn jobs

    Rahul promises to create 100 mn jobs
    Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Thursday promised to create "100 million jobs" for the unemployed youth of the northeastern states if his party again comes to power at the centre.

    Rahul promises to create 100 mn jobs

    NEWSFLASH: Miraculous escape for Haryana governor

    NEWSFLASH: Miraculous escape for Haryana governor
    Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia had a miraculous escape Thursday when his plane caught fire at the airport here, official sources said.

    NEWSFLASH: Miraculous escape for Haryana governor