Aligarh: Outfit postpones conversion ceremony after PM Modi's warning

Aligarh, Dec 17: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned his MPs not to cross the "Laxman Rekha" with their controversial comments, the controversial religious conversion programme scheduled for December 25 in Aligarh was called off on Tuesday.

Ending days of stand-off on the controversial ceremony, Satya Prakash Nauman, district president of the Dharam Jagaran Samiti, a western UP-based Hindutva group, had last night said, "The proposed 'ghar wapsi'(conversion ceremony) planned for December 25 has been called off".

However, he did not elaborate the reason behind the outfit's u-turn.

Despite outfit's calling off its conversion programme, the precautionary measures will remain in place, authorities said on Wednesday.

District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash, while welcoming the decision of the outfit, made it clear that all precautionary measures will remain in place till Christmas.

"The organisers of this programme had neither sought permission in writing for holding this programme nor have they given anything in writing regarding its cancellation. We are therefore maintaining our vigilance," Prakash told PTI.

"From the very beginning we had made it clear that we are not going into the technicalities of granting permission for conversion or reconversion. Our contention is that after the Agra Mass Reconversion fallout, this had become an issue of law and order of the state.

"We cannot allow any program which would spread ill-will even if it is held in a private space," he said.

Apparently, the arrest of the main accused in the alleged forced conversion in Agra, Nand Kishore, and the tough stand by the local authorities led the outfit to cancel its scheduled programme.

OneIndia News