New Delhi: Rajya Sabha had been adjourned after heavy storm in Parliament over conversion on Tuesday.
The Opposition MPs shouted slogans as the proceedings began and demanded an explanation from none other than the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi over the issue.
Congress had led the charge with Opposition MPs and reached the Well of the House and raised anti-government slogans.
With the din continuing, the chairman of the Upper House adjourned the Rajya Sabha for 15 minutes.
Similar protests were witnessed in the Lok Sabha where the government ministers tried to pacify the Opposition to allow smooth functioning of the Lower House.
ON the issue of lokjam in Parliament over conversion, BJP MP MUkhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Govt is ready for discussion, why stall Parliament?”
The Opposition has have been protesting in wake of recent reports of conversion of Muslims to Hinduism, and also Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath’ comment supporting a mass conversion programme.
The demand for Narendra Modi’s assurance came a day after statements attributed to Uttar Pradesh BJP MP Yogi Adityanath at a religious conclave in Bihar and a week after 350-odd Muslim slum-dwellers in Agra were converted to Hinduism at a ceremony held by an RSS-linked outfit.
Adityanath had reportedly described the Babri Masjid’s demolition as a show of “Hindu unity” and said the current round of ghar wapsi (reconversion of people who had switched to other faiths from Hinduism) ceremonies should not be stopped.
In the House, Congress MP Anand Sharma demanded suspension of business to discuss the “forced conversions”. “It is a very serious issue,” he said.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley intervened to say there were “two options”. “One, ban all religious conversions or ban all forcible religious conversions. The government is ready for both. It is up to you to choose.”
Bureau Report
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