Friday, December 19, 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

    Modi's speech to be beamed live at iconic Times Square

    Modi's speech to be beamed live at iconic Times Square
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the Indian community at a grand public reception at Madison Square Garden Sep 28 will be beamed live...

    Modi's speech to be beamed live at iconic Times Square

    Tendulkar, Helen named for Giants International Awards

    Tendulkar, Helen named for Giants International Awards
    Cricket maestro and Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood danseuse Helen are among this year's Giants International awardees...

    Tendulkar, Helen named for Giants International Awards

    Over 2 lakh rescued in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir

    Over 2 lakh rescued in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir
    Over 237,000 people have so far been rescued in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir and the train route between Srinagar and Baramulla has been...

    Over 2 lakh rescued in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir

    Rs.600 Crore From NRIs, Others For Guru Gobind Singh's Birthplace

    Rs.600 Crore From NRIs, Others For Guru Gobind Singh's Birthplace
    Hundreds of NRIs and businessmen from across India will contribute a whopping Rs.600 crore to develop the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru of the Sikhs, on the lines of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, ahead of the guru's 350th birth anniversary in 2017.

    Rs.600 Crore From NRIs, Others For Guru Gobind Singh's Birthplace

    No stops for Modi in US

    No stops for Modi in US
    Not long ago, Narendra Modi was not welcome in the US. But the US is now pulling out all stops to woo him when he comes calling at the White...

    No stops for Modi in US

    Rs.5,700 crore loss in Kashmir floods: Assocham

    Rs.5,700 crore loss in Kashmir floods: Assocham
    Floods in Jammu and Kashmir have caused a loss of around Rs.5,700 crore with heavy damages to trade, hotels, restaurants, horticulture and...

    Rs.5,700 crore loss in Kashmir floods: Assocham