KOCHI: Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said that his party was opposed to forcible religious conversion, and asked if the “so-called secular parties” would support legislation to outlaw this.
“The BJP is the only party in the country that is not in favour of forcible conversions. If the so-called secular parties are so committed to secularism, they should make their stance clear on this and support a Bill in this regard,” he told presspersons at Aluva, near here, on Saturday.
The issue could be debated in public with interested sections after a consensus was arrived at among political parties, Mr. Shah said.
On the controversial Ghar Vapsi programme in Uttar Pradesh, he said a first information report had been lodged and the matter was sub judice. “Let the court decide if or not [the conversion] was forced,” Mr. Shah said.
Mr. Shah argued that the BJP managed to do in six months more than what the UPA government had done in 10 years to bring back black money stashed away in foreign banks. “Bilateral agreements with several countries posed a hindrance to this, following which the matter was taken up by the Prime Minister with heads of other nations in global forums. [Mr. Modi] has worked for a global consensus on the issue and the BJP is resolute in bringing the money back.”
The BJP president exuded confidence about the party putting up a good show in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election. “We will form the government there,” he said.
Mr. Shah sought to distance his party from the Hindu Mahasabha’s proposal for erection of a Godse statue, maintaining that it was an independent organisation and the BJP did not have anything to do with it.
On the last leg of his two-day tour of Kerala, Mr. Shah said the BJP would contest all seats in the coming local body elections. Though there was no proposal to have an NDA-like alliance in the State, the BJP would consolidate its position in the polls, he said.