Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday that an anti -conversion law is required in Goa to deal with “forced” religious adaptations.
Responding to a calling attention pace on the first day of the monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, Sawant said, “Forced conversions are not allowed under the opposing conversion law in Uttar Pradesh. Many states have passed such laws. I think we also need a law so that we can tell about ‘Love Jihad’.
Pointing to an SB Krishna, aka Ayesha’s recent arrest, in an alleged illegal conversion racket by Uttar Pradesh Police from Goa, BJP MLA Premendra Shet and AAP MLA Kruz Silva pushed forward the calling motion, claiming that “International Network” was operated by the “International Network”. He questioned the steps taken by the government to neutralize the “transnational network”.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a network in illegal religious conversions allegedly with arrest of 10 people from six states regarding the abduction of two sisters from Agra in March this year. Police said the accused allegedly wooed through fraudulent means for young women, especially minors, for religious transformation in states and was receiving funds from Canada and other countries to run their operations. According to the UP police, the preliminary inquiry suggests a group link with organizations such as PFI, SDPI and some extremist groups in Pakistan.
Calling the Congress to support the government, Sawant said, “Recently, some targeted cases are happening. You can say that they are adults … they are in love, but when there are (specific) cases of targeting, we have to pay attention.”
Goa Forward Party (GFP) President Vijai Sardasai intervened that the “story” of “Love Jihad” was imported from the national discourse and was irrelevant to the grassroots reality of Goa. “If there are forced conversion, show us data. Where is the report? Do not confuse Goan with borrowed stories. It’s about crime, not religion,” Sardesai said.
Independent MLA Aleixo Lourenco, also intervened, asked the Chief Minister to clarify. “There is no conversion in Goa, especially from the Catholic side,” he said.
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Sawant replied, saying, “The harmony of Goa has never been disturbed and it should never be.
AAP MLA Cruise Silva demanded a thorough investigation into the case, urging the law enforcement agencies to investigate how many such accused in the state. “Goa is an international tourist destination. Tourists and tourists from all over the country visit Goa. Recently, a grand performance of St. Francis Xavier was held in Old Goa, millions of people participated. However, during the same period, during the same period, during the same period, (this accused) was also living in the old Goa and it was allegedly connected to Isis. The branch did not know about it?
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