Sunday, December 21, 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 meets Xi, seeks solution of border, trade imbalance issues

    Modi meets Xi, seeks solution of border, trade imbalance issues
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday met Chinese President Xi Jinping and called for a solution to the "boundary question" as the two countries sought to expand their economic relations and rectify the trade imbalance.

    Modi meets Xi, seeks solution of border, trade imbalance issues

    Indian Maoists have links in Philippines, Europe: Government

    Indian Maoists have links in Philippines, Europe: Government
    In a revelation that adds a new dimension to the Left-wing extremism in the country, the government Tuesday said Maoists in India have "close links" with Maoist groups in the Philippines and Turkey, and even draw support from fringe organisations in countries such as Germany, France, Holland and Italy.

    Indian Maoists have links in Philippines, Europe: Government

    'Banning cross-gender massages won't stop prostitution in Goa'

    'Banning cross-gender massages won't stop prostitution in Goa'
    Banning cross-gender massages is not a sure way of preventing prostitution in the privacy of spa and salon cubicles, because of swelling gay and lesbian communities, leading spa operators in Goa claim.

    'Banning cross-gender massages won't stop prostitution in Goa'

    Indian Muslims must stand up to radical ideologies

    Indian Muslims must stand up to radical ideologies
    Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has urged the likes of Syed Imam Bukhari and Zakir Naik to go to Iraq and preach peace to ISIS. Sri Sri is not only prodding them to take the responsibility of mitigating the sufferings in Iraq but also underlining that their brand of Islam runs the risk of encouraging ISIS-type of fanaticism in India.

    Indian Muslims must stand up to radical ideologies

    Ian Thorpe 'comes out of the closet' on television

    Ian Thorpe 'comes out of the closet' on television
    In a week that saw Australia's highest-profile sporting icon, Ian Thorpe, 'come out of the closet' on television, gay marriage is back on the national agenda with Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm hoping to push the divided government to allow a 'conscience vote' on the issue.

    Ian Thorpe 'comes out of the closet' on television

    Netanyahu vows more attacks, as rocket attack kills first Israeli

    Netanyahu vows more attacks, as rocket attack kills first Israeli
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday said his country will expand its military campaign against Gaza, as rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave caused the first Israeli civilian fatality since launch of "Operation Protective Edge" last week, officials said.

    Netanyahu vows more attacks, as rocket attack kills first Israeli