Ashok Singhal defends conversion

Drawing hard line: Patron laments "communal" tag fixed on them

Undeterred by the conversion controversy that forced a washout of parliamentary business, Vishwa Hindu Parishad patron Ashok Singhal did not find anything wrong in ghar vapasi programme and lamented communal tag fixed on them for representing 100 crore (Hindus) people.

On the other hand, those who represent 120 crore people are dubbed as secular, Singhal said at the launch of book “Hamare Rajju Bhayia” on former RSS chief Rajinder
Singh.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP patriarch L K Advani were also present on the dais for book launch event held at the Constitutional Club. Bhagwat, who had earlier favoured anti-conversion law, did not refer to the conversion and confined his speech to sharing personal experiences of his interaction with his predecessor Rajjy Bhayia. And Advani opted not to speak at all even on the book published by Prabhat Prakashan.

“The Sangh has to unite the entire society. It has to make an example of its character and it has to be fearless…India is in a position today when there is a lot of hope from it and it has a lot of potential. The need is for the whole country to walk together with determination to realise that potential. The skill of integrating people will be put to use now. Integrate, integrate,” Bhagwat said.

Interestingly Singhal began his speech expressing fear that with presence of media who he accused of making mountain out of a molehill, he would not be able say much. Later, he perhaps could not hold himself and ended up providing fodder to journalists that had gone there anticipating that one of the right wing speakers would say something on conversion.

“Today Hindu society is rising on its own strength. You will have to hear it and not only that but you will have to do something for it” he said.

Singhal reiterated that government should bring a law to check conversion since he wondered whether Hindus have no right to peacefully protect their language, culture and religion in their own country.

He said that suppression of Hindu community will have to end. Singhal asserted that the VHP and the RSS will continue to push for home coming programmes through which they claim to get back Hindus converted to become Muslims or Christians.