Conversion: Congress demands action against BJP, affiliates

The matter was raised during the Question Hour by Congress member Anugrah Narain Singh.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav signs the budget papers at Vidhan Sabha, in Lucknow on Monday. Akhilesh, who also holds the finance portfolio, will present the Rs 3.5-lakh crore Annual Budget 2015-16 for UP on Tuesday. (Source: Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

The ongoing budget session of the state Assembly witnessed another noisy day as Congress alleged that the state government was keeping away from initiating strict action in the cases of religious conversions and staged a walkout over the issue.

The matter was raised during the Question Hour by Congress member Anugrah Narain Singh, who sought to know from the government how many incidents of religious conversions were reported in the state in the last five months of last year. BSP’s Deepak Patel and BJP’s Dharampal Singh too sought a reply.

Responding, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan said a case was registered in Agra on December 9 in which a person, named Nand Kishore, was arrested.

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In his supplementary question, Anugrah Narain said that it is being reported in the media that a member of a particular organisation had issued a statement that all Muslims and Christians will be converted to Hinduism by 2020 or will be forced to leave the country. “Such people are spreading hatred and attacking our Constitution. Has any new name come to light during investigation of Agra incident,” Anugrah asked. He also took the name of Rajeshwar Singh of Dharm Jagran Manch for religious conversion.

In his reply, Azam Khan said it was “unfortunate” that such incidents were being reported and “irresponsible” statements were being made by some persons. He said there was a need to create a social awakening so that religion is not used as a tool to offer two square meals to a person who converts.

Meanwhile, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Pradeep Mathur blamed BJP for creating religious tension. “Why don’t you take action against BJP and its affiliates for such incidents,” Mathur asked. Reacting to this, BJP members stood on their seats demanding that Mathur’s comments should be removed from the proceedings. Soon, they trooped to the well raising slogans.

Azam Khan replied that state government will act sternly against such elements. “We will take action against them. But, we need to prepare our society also so that such elements do not succeed. They have got a befitting reply in Delhi,” he said.

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Though the matter was settled, Congress members staged a walkout.

Fully equipped to deal with swine flu: govt tells House

In wake of rising swine flu cases, the UP governemnt Monday asked people not to panic and told the state Assembly that it has sufficient medicines and is fully equipped to to deal with the disease. Soon after the House assembled in the morning, BJP’s Suresh Khanna raised the issue of rising swine flu cases in the state and demanded discussion on the issue after suspending question hour.

Khanna claimed, hundreds of people have died due to the disease in UP and sought to know about the preventive measures taken by the government. Congress leader Pradeep Mathur also demanded a discussion on the issue. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan, however, said that opposition members should not give irresponsible statements to create panic among the people over swine flu. “There is not need to panic. Those who are saying hundreds have died due to disease are wrong. We have made all the arrangements to deal with it (H1N1 virus) and have sufficient amount of medicines”, he said.

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