Govt survey report rules out forcible religious conversions

Bengaluru: Hosadurga MLA Goolihatti Shekhar had stated in the State Legislative Assembly that people in his constituency were being forced to convert to Christianity. He also had claimed that his mother was a victim of this forcible conversion.

Exposing the falsity of the claim, in the official survey conducted by Hosadurga tahsildar, it was found that 45 families from two villages have voluntarily embraced Christianity. "There was no forcible act in religious conversation, the report said.

The family members said that they voluntarily converted to Christianity and no one put pressure on them. The survey conducted by Hosadurga taluk administration, based on the BJP MLA's allegation of forced conversions, found that the people had on their own volition changed religion. Thippeswamy said that he had visited two villages along with the police circle inspector when the villagers said they were not forced to change their religion, and that they got mental peace after becoming Christians. He said that some villagers asserted that several families were forced to change their religion, but the families themselves said otherwise.

In the Assembly, MLA Goolihatti Shekhar had explained that his mother had converted to Christianity. Later, he had informed that she and nine other families had returned to Hinduism. The government is planning to introduce a bill against forcible conversions in the Belagavi session of the Assembly.