Goa too needs an anti-conversion law, Pramod Sawant tells assembly, cites UP case
Pramod Sawant floated the idea in the state assembly when he was responding to a calling attention motion moved by Premendra Shet of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
PANAJI: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the state too needs an anti-conversion law to deal with ‘forced conversions’, prompting some legislators to ask the government to table the data on such cases reported in Goa.
Sawant floated the idea in the state assembly when he was responding to a calling attention motion moved by Premendra Shet of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who spotlighted the case of SB Krishna, who was arrested in Goa by the Uttar Pradesh police on charges of abduction of two girls.
Shet said Krishna, also known as Ayesha and Nikki, was arrested on charges of kidnapping two girls for marriage.
“Under UP’s anti-conversion law, forced conversions are not allowed. Many states have passed such laws. I believe we too need to bring such a law so that forced conversions will be disallowed,” the chief minister said.
“You too need to support us,” he said, turning to the Congress.
“Inter-religion marriages are happening. That is their wish. But forced conversions by giving money should not be done,” the chief minister said.
Sawant said ‘love jihad’ cases were happening in Goa too, a term used by right-wing leaders to describe marital relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women. “Now you may say they are adults, they are in love, but when there are cases of targeting, then we will have to pay attention,” Sawant added.
Opposition lawmaker Vijai Sardesai protested the chief minister’s statement, accusing Sawant of trying to bring the BJP’s national agenda, though it was not relevant to Goa’s ground reality.
“If there is forced conversion, show us the data. Where is the report? Don’t confuse Goans with borrowed narratives. This is about crime, not religion,” Sardesai said.
Independent lawmaker Aleixo Lourenço, who is part of the ruling alliance, said, “I think the chief minister should be clear (about what he’s saying). No conversions are happening in Goa, especially from the Catholic side. The moment you say atrocities and anti-conversion law and accuse minorities, the implication is that we are doing it,” Lourenço said.
The Uttar Pradesh police arrested 10 individuals from six states for their alleged involvement in illegal religious conversions over the weekend, including SB Krishna from Goa.
The UP police has claimed to have unearthed use of foreign funds for religious conversions and radicalisation and linked the alleged racket to the Islamic State (IS). It has also alleged that the suspects played different roles within the network, including receiving and channeling funds, providing legal advice, supplying new phones and SIM cards, entrapping victims through love jihad, and facilitating religious conversions.
