Reports of 'forced conversion' threaten communal harmony

 Reports of ‘forced conversions’ of girls in some western Uttar Pradesh districts kept the police on the tenterhooks as senior officials candidly admitted that these alleged conversions have emerged as a new threat to the communal amity in the state.

According to the police sources here, a case of “forced conversion” of a minor girl was reported from Ghaziabad district.

The parents of the minor on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the police accusing a youth of “luring” her into marriage after “forcibly converting” her. 

They alleged that the youth had eloped with the minor about a month back.

Both of them however surrendered before the police on Wednesday after the police conducted a series of raids. A case was registered in this connection.

Saffron outfits staged a demonstration before the local police station demanding stern action against the “culprits”.

Police in Muzaffarnagar district were also sent into a tizzy, when they received a call from a woman on Wednesday evening, who alleged that she had been held hostage at a madarsa (islamic school) at Phulat in the district.

A police team was rushed to the place but the woman could not found.

The cops, however, managed to trace the cell phone from which the call had been made. It was recovered from the possession of a cleric. The matter was being investigated.

Meerut incident

A few days back, a Meerut girl had alleged that she had been forced to convert and gang-raped after being held hostage at a madrasa in Muzaffarnagar. 

She had also alleged that several girls had been kept at the madarsa at Muzaffarnagar.

In another case, a girl, who had allegedly been kidnapped by a youth from Kanpur, was later recovered from a house near a place of worship in the district.

The girl alleged that she was being pressurised to convert and marry the kidnapper.Senior officials have directed the police to handle such cases carefully.

Communal threat

They admitted that such cases were a big threat to communal amity in the state. 

Saffron outfits have already warned the government that they will not sit idle if the police did not take stern action in such cases.