The national president of the All India Muslim Jamaat has asked for a stop to alleged mass conversions of Muslims to Hinduism during the Mahakumbh which gets underway in Prayagraj on January 13.
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aidtyanath, saying that he has come to know of plans for mass conversion during the mela. This, the cleric argues, falls foul of the state’s Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2024.
In the letter dated January 3, Barelvi argues that the conversion could lead to tension in the state and the country, hence it was necessary that it is prohibited. He has also said that as the Kumbh is a religious programme, the message it gives should be one of peace and amity, and not one that divides society.
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“If mass conversions were to happen,” argues the cleric, “it will give radical Muslims and Christian missionaries leeway to conduct their own conversion programmes in the silent manner that they are doing thus far.”
Under the 2024 Act, any person who wishes to convert needs to give notice to the district magistrate that s/he is doing so without any force, coercion or undue influence of allurement. The DM is then required to conduct an inquiry into such a conversion to ascertain facts. A person who wishes to convert also needs to present himself before the DM to reaffirm the facts as submitted in the written notice.
News of the conversions emerged from a comment by Mahant Ravindra Puri, president of the All India Akhara Parishad that many Muslims and Christians who were yearning for a return to the folds of Sanatan had been in touch with him. Some other saints have also voiced similar sentiments indicating that people of other faiths want ‘ghar wapasi’.
