The Dharam Jagaran Samiti (DJS), which plans to convert 4,000 Muslims and Christians on December 25 here, has gone underground, apparently fearing a crackdown by the local administration.
Rajeshwar Singh, the zonal chief of the organisation, remains untraceable with his phone switched off. Mr. Singh and other DJS office-bearers have not contacted mediapersons in the last few days with calls going unanswered.
The State government has instructed the local administration to thwart any attempt to organise the ghar vapsi programme which, according to the local intelligence report may “lead to communal disturbances” in the communally sensitive town of Aligarh.
DIG (Aligarh range) Mohit Agarwal made it clear that the proposed ‘conversion’ programme would be a threat to the law and order situation. “We have not given permission and we will not let it happen either. We are maintaining a close watch on the activities of the DJS and its office-bearers,” he said.
“If we get to know of anyone converting people through bribe or threat, we will deal with them sternly,” the DIG said.
The local BJP leaders tried to distance themselves from the controversial programme. When The Hindu tried to contact Aligarh MP Satish Gautam, he didn’t refused to comment on the issue. Till Saturday, Mr. Gautam had defended the DJS’ “right to organise the ghar vapsi .”
Meanwhile, representatives of the Muslim and Christian communities have come together to deal with the situation ahead of December 25.
Father Sohanlal, representative of the Methodist Church, along with Zamirullah, Samajwadi Party MLA from Koil, and other leaders of the minority communities approached the local administration for security for villages with Muslim and Christian populations.
A worker of DJS who spoke to this correspondent in Aligarh however, said the programme would take place “come what may.” “The administration will have to give us permission because people are coming back into Hinduism on their own,” he claimed.
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