New Delhi: Vishwa Hindu Parishad has reiterated its demand to the government to bring stringent laws against conversion in the country. The reaction comes after media reports of an unprecedented surge in the number of churches and converted Christians in some districts of Punjab like Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Firozpur where the number of conversions have increased substantially in the past couple of years.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Vishwa Hindu Parishad national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said that the organisation is aware of the situation and their local units are already active in different states including Punjab to stop these conversions which are either forced or by fraud.
"We have been running a movement against such conversions where innocent Hindus are lured on the pretext of cash, jobs, marriage. Christian missionaries have been doing this for a long and they are especially growing in the Congress-ruled states. Last month the Chief Minister of Punjab was to visit Changai Sabha in Moga but after criticism, he cancelled his visit to the sabha. These Changai Sabha are also involved in mass conversions and they do so by running false propaganda" said Vinod Bansal.
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It has been observed that conversions are at large in regions where the population belongs to the underprivileged section of society.
"It's not that the missionaries only are running social services. RSS and VHP have been serving people for years and we are working in tribal areas where even government could not reach. We run more than one lakh Ekal Vidyalayas in tribal areas and multiple service works are being done through thousands of branches of the RSS and the VHP. Missionaries don't stand before us when it comes to social services. The only difference is that they do it with the motive of conversion but our motive is only service. Conversion is a conspiracy against the nation," Bansal added.