Lucknow: Aam Admi Party leader Sanjay Singh has criticised the Uttar Pradesh government after two men were arrested for their role in religious conversions in the state. The state government in November last year passed an Ordinance that prohibits unlawful religious conversions, which is punishable with imprisonment up to ten years.
Sanjay Singh said that the government's claim and its actions seem to be poles apart.
According to police, Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam reportedly converted over 1000 people, including children. One of them - himself a convert - is a resident of Batala house in Jamia Nagar. Police officer Prashant Kumar on Monday said the conversions took place within Uttar Pradesh. He said those who converted were poor people, the unemployed and children who were lured with the offer of financial help.
Kumar also said the conversions were run from Noida, Kanpur and Mathura and were funded from abroad. "Police is also tracking those people who got trapped in this racket and is investigating further to understand how they influenced people," added Kumar.
