Uttarkashi: The Uttarkashi Police on Sunday registered a case against some Christian missionaries including a nominee for allegedly organizing an event for religious mass conversion. The case was registered under the Uttarakhand Religious Freedom Act 2018, after Hindu Parishad District President Virendra Rawat lodged a complaint at the Purola Police Station, said CO Barkot Surendra Bhandari.
Leaders of various Hindu organizations, including the BJP, took out a procession and protested against the alleged conversion late on Saturday night, and also sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister demanding to take strict action against the accused in this matter. In the memorandum, the workers highlighted how poor people are being lured into large-scale conversions and meeting violence on resisting it.
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As informed by the police officials probing the matter, the said program was organized on Friday in the Devdhung area adjacent to Purola. The people present at this event were allegedly some locals along with people with Nepalese origins. Some local villagers and workers belonging to some Hindu extremist organizations reached the spot and created a ruckus at the event, accusing the people there of mass conversion. The ruckus soon accelerated and the protesting people took out a procession and blocked the wheel at Kumola Tirahe demanding action against the accused.
The Uttarakhand government has recently amended the conversion law and made it more stringent. According to the older conversion law in the state, which was enacted in 2018, the convict would be sentenced to 1 to 5 years of imprisonment. In the amended law, the punishment has been increased to 10 years along with a fine of Rs 50,000. The convict will also have to pay at least Rs 5 lakh to the victim in case of forcible conversion according to the new law.
