The legislature committee on backward classes and minority welfare has no authority to direct district officials to survey the activities of Christian missionaries and institutions, said former Mangaluru City South MLA J.R. Lobo on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Lobo said that at the meeting of the committee recently chaired by Gulihatti Shekar, MLA, the district officials were asked to carry out a survey on the activities of Christian missionaries and institutions and submit a report. The committee members also decided to visit churches every Sunday.
Mr. Lobo, who was a member this committee between 2015 and 2018, said the committee has gone beyond its purview in ordering a survey. “Mr. Shekar has earlier spoken in the legislature accusing Christian missionaries of religious conversion. Ordering a survey is nothing but a ploy by BJP legislators to fix Christian missionaries on conversion,” he said.
The former MLA also said there were enough legal provisions to act against groups indulging in religious conversion. “The committee should work for the welfare of the minorities and backward classes and not indulge in policing of activities of Christian missionaries and institutions, which are ably contributing to society’s welfare,” he said. “The Congress will not tolerate selective targetting of missionaries,” he added.
District Congress Committee president and MLC K. Harish Kumar was present.
