Hindu outfits protest against religious conversion

The BJP, Hindu Jagarana Vedike, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Sri Rama Sene, RSS and various other organisations staged a protest in Shanivarasanthe on Tuesday condemning the alleged forced religious conversions carried out in the town by Gram Panchayat employee Manjunath and his family.

The protesters gathered at Kittur Rani Chennamma Circle.

Addressing the protesters, Hindu Jagarana Vedike Matru Samraksha Samyojak Ganaraj Bhat alleged that religious conversions are being held in the state in a secretive way has been revealed through the incident in Shanivarasanthe.

The people should not fall prey to the allurements posed by the people like Manjunath, he added.

The accused have hurt the sentiments of Hindu people, he said and condemned the alleged act of Christian missionaries.

BJP leaders S N Raghu and H R Harish Kumar said that even though the panchayat staff had warned Manjunath several times, against his illegal work of religious conversion, he did not mend his ways.

Therefore, the Hindu outfits demanded that the police initiate legal action.

“People should be united against such heinous acts,” they added.

The protest rally which started from Kittur Rani Chennamma Circle passed through the main road and culminated at Nadakatcheri.

A memorandum, addressed to the governor of Karnataka, was submitted to the revenue inspector. It was urged to implement a law to ban religious conversions in the state.

More than 800 protesters took part in the rally.

Leaders of various Hindu outfits in Shanivarasanthe also submitted a memorandum to Shanivarasanthe Gram Panchayat president Saroja Shekhar and PDO Medappa, urging them to terminate Manjunath, the temporary worker of the panchayat, who has been accused of converting people into Christianity.

In the memorandum, it has been alleged that Manjunath used to mislead innocent people, invite them to take part in prayer at his house and after alluring them of money, used to convert them into Christianity.

Serious action should be taken against him for creating unrest in the region and hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, they said.

Emergency meeting held

An emergency meeting was convened by Gram Panchayat president Saroja Shekhar to discuss the allegation on water manager Manjunath, the accused.

Manjunath was also accused of not supplying water to households regularly. Now, he is alleged of being involved in religious conversion activities.

It was decided during the meeting to issue a notice to Manjunath, asking him to furnish an explanation.

Leaders Subhash Thimaiah, Yoganand, Dhananjay, Raghu, Harish, Sharat, Pravin, Bhuveneshwari, Tanmay, Suresh, Sandeep, Yatish and Raju were present.

Police security was tightened in the region.