BJP has preconceptions about the minority panel

VADODARA, Aug 12: The National Minorities Commission has expressed regret that the BJP and its allies appeared to have a preconceived notion about its role. In Vadodara on Tuesday to investigate charges of persecution against minorities, the team, led by James Massey, said the NMC was an independent body constituted under the National Minorities Commission Act of 1992 and was associated with fair probes.

Talking to reporters before meeting local minority leaders, they said they had recently sought permission to from the Centre to probe atrocities on Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir and several north-eastern states. They were yet to get a nod from Centre, they added.

The commission was also dealing with `reconversion’ of converts, the team members said. Massey and his colleague, John Dayal, said they had dealt with the issue in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, where BJP allies were allegedly `baptising’ Christians into Hinduism.

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“We have recently submitted our report on reconversion and have insisted on strict and fair implementation of the anti-conversion laws”, they said.

To a specific query, team member Youssef Muchhala, who has also been associated with the Srikrishna Commission, said the probe into the Mumbai riots of 1992-93 had been fair and genuine.