Calling for a ban on religious conversion, the Shankaracharya of Puri, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, said here on Tuesday that it was necessary to have a dialogue on the different aspects of the issue.
“Shri Mohan Bhagwat, Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia and Narendra Modi should come to me and understand the real premise of religious conversion…,” the Puri Shankaracharya said, while speaking to journalists at the Gangasagar Mela held on the Sagar Island in West Bengal.
Lakhs of pilgrims from different parts of the country congregate here on the occasion of Makar Sankranti to take a holy dip in the river at Gangasagar, which is situated at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal and Hooghly river.
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He said that unannounced conversion had been going on in the country. No attempt had been made to prevent the practice even after Independence, Swami Saraswati said.
He said granting of minority status to communities like Jains was also a form of conversion and a proper discourse should be carried out on conversion.