Congress leader and former MP Nilesh Rane on Tuesday said that as many people as possible should be converted to Hinduism to put an end to incidents like the cafe siege in Sydney. A day after three people, including a gunman, were killed in a cafe in Sydney, Nilesh, son of Congress strongman Narayan Rane, tweeted: “With incidents like the 1 happened in Sydney happening almost everywhere, India should target on converting as many people to #Hinduism.” Talking to The Indian Express, Nilesh defended mass conversions being held in the country. “I don’t need to be part of Congress or BJP to believe that if all Hindus stand together, they can prevent such incidents. There is nothing wrong with what has been happening over the last few weeks in Uttar Pradesh. As long as these conversions are not happening at gunpoint, people should be allowed to convert to Hinduism,” he said. Nilesh said Hinduism was better equipped than any other religion to counter acts of terror. He clarified that he was speaking in a personal capacity, and that this was not his party’s stand. “I belong to a Hindu family and this is my idea of saving fellow Hindus. I have never heard of a Hindu attacking anyone. I am not against any religion or caste but if all Hindus come together, that would be the first step and those responsible for acts of terror will think twice,” said Nilesh. Hours after his tweet about conversions, Nilesh posted another tweet that read, “I have no words to condemn this heinous & shameless #PeshawarAttack..how low and sad can things get?? FINISH Taliban!!..now is the time.”
