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No move to ban conversions, says Vajpayee

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has said there was no proposal to amend the Constitution or frame new laws regarding religious conversions.

Answering questions at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, he said he did not think that his suggestion for a national debate on religious conversions had created apprehensions among the minorities. In fact, two Roman Catholic bishops who met him at the airport to submit a memorandum had welcomed such a dialogue, he pointed out.

He said the dialogue was intended to develop confidence among the minorities. "No section in the country should feel insecure."

Vajpayee said he had visited Dangs district in Gujarat, which was the scene of attacks on some Christian institutions and met leaders of the community to allay their apprehensions.

Asked if conversions and illegal proselytisation should not be banned, he said this issue had been debated at length by the Constituent Assembly. Whatever was decided by it was to help in maintaining national integrity and harmony .

In answer to a question, he said in some states there were laws against fraudulent conversions. Whether others could have such a law depended on them. He was not going to give any advice on it.

Shortly before the press conference, a two-member delegation of the Thiruvananthapuram Latin Catholic Diocese led by Bishop Susai Pakiam held discussions with him at the pavilion and submitted a memorandum.

The memorandum welcomed the prime minister's recent suggestion for a national debate on conversions and said there should also be a national debate on the present secular image of India and the role played by bodies like the RSS and the VHP in promoting or destroying religious harmony.

The memorandum, submitted in the name of the quarter-million Catholics in the Latin diocese of Thiruvananthapuram expressed ''great anguish, deep sorrow and wounded feelings'' of the people against the brutal and calculated attacks on Christian minorities in different parts of the country, especially Gujarat.

It said the prime minister's recent visit to Gujarat, particularly to the place where Christians were attacked on Christmas Day, had raised some hope but within days, churches in the neighbourhood were burnt down.

Holding that the Church never stood for forced conversions, ''which is a contradiction in itself and against the very principles on which Christianity stands,'' the memorandum said: ''We wholeheartedly welcome your suggestion for a national debate on conversions. That will certainly clarify our stand and help defuse the cloud of suspicion and mistrust. But we would like to have a national debate on the present secular image of the country and the role of VHP, RSS, Sangh Parivar, the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Jagran Manch in promoting or destroying the religious harmony of India,'' it added.

UNI

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