• Source:JND
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The Maharashtra government will introduce a law against religious conversion to curb the cases of conversion across the state. The government will also investigate the illegal churches and demolish them, particularly in tribal areas, in the next six months, revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said in the state assembly on Wednesday.

The statement of Bawankule came after four BJP MLAs, Anup Agrawal, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Sanjay Kute, and Gopichand Padalkar, alleged that people from tribal areas were being converted to Christianity through the illegally constructed churches, operating on foreign funds. The BJP MLAs claimed that these churches are operating with the intent to promote a particular religion. 

Making the allegation, the MLAs also demanded that a mechanism should be introduced to bar such tribals, who have converted to Christianity, from availing the benefits under welfare schemes meant for the betterment of Scheduled Castes (SCs). 

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Furthermore, Agarwal, quoting an RTI reply, claimed that the number of illegal churches in tribal dominated districts like Palghar and Nandurbar is mounting stupendously.  There are illegal churches in 199 gram panchayats in Dhule, while villages with less than 2,000 population have half a dozen churches, Agawal further alleged. 

On the other hand, Mungantiwar claimed that 1,515 organisations involved in religious conversion activities received foreign funding last year, leading to a decline in the Hindu population in the state over the year. 

Another MLA, Sanjay Kute, demanded the formation of a review committee to make sure that converted tribals do not avail the benefits under the scheme for STs. 

In response, the revenue minister said that illegal churches will be demolished immediately, while those listed by the Supreme Court of India will be removed in the next six months. 

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“There is a report of the home department on the conversion through allurement and threat, and we have taken cognisance of it. The report says that the conversion happened with the help of churches. There are orders issued in May 2011 and May 2018 related to the removal of the religious structures. The divisional commissioners would be asked to chalk out plans for the removal of these structures in six months,” Bawankule said.

Ballarpur MLA had moved a private member’s bill in the budget session of the state legislature, demanding that forced conversion should be made a cognisable offence.