New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected the opposition demand to make a statement on last week’s conversion of some Muslims to Hinduism.
According to sources in Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the prime minister has taken a stand that the government has nothing to do with it and it has done no wrong.
“The Prime Minister made it clear that since his government has done nothing wrong, there is no question of making a statement on the issue,” sources said, adding that Modi has asked his ministers to counter the opposition with facts.
The tough stand taken by Modi on the conversion row means the winter session of Parliament may end with complete logjam since the session is scheduled to end on Tuesday.
Repeated adjournments were witnessed in both Houses of Parliament once again on Wednesday with the united opposition demanding Modi’s statement. They were not willing to debate the conversion row in Modi’s absence and reply to it by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Modi is expected to be present in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday morning as some questions relating to ministries under him are listed to come up during the question hour. However, he is not expected to oblige the opposition.
The opposition started demanding Modi’s presence as soon as both Houses met on Wednesday morning. “Modiji should do ghar vapasi [homecoming] to Lok Sabha. We have rarely seen him in Lok Sabha this session. This is not reasonable. Jawaharlal Nehru [first Indian prime minister] had a bigger majority but he came to Parliament every single day. One must respect democracy,” senior Congress party leader Shashi Tharoor said in Lok Sabha.
Radical groups involved in last week’s controversial conversion of nearly 300 Muslims to Hinduism had termed conversion as a “ghar vapasi” (homecoming) of those who had converted to Islam some three decades back.
Similar sentiments were expressed in the Rajya Sabha, where the opposition refused to discuss the Agra conversion row until the prime minister came.
“Am I an anarchist for demanding a simple thing ... We want to know if he [Modi] will come. If the PM of the country instead of addressing from outside the House actually comes and is accountable according to the Constitution,” Left Front leader Sitaram Yechury said while making it clear that they would not allow the House to function until Modi came.
With the opposition joining hands and disrupting functioning of the Parliament over the Agra conversion row, a similar event planned to take place in Aligarh town of Uttar Pradesh on December 25 has been called off.
The organisers had announced conversion of 4,000 Christians and 1,000 Muslims to Hinduism. The event was called off following instructions of BJP’s ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
BJP had complained to RSS about the conversion attempts as the controversy has paralysed Parliament where the government wanted get passed several key legislations. Moreover, the conversion row has taken the focus away from achievements of the Modi government while crucial assembly elections are underway in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
