Humanists urge Govt to protect citizen's right to conversion

New Delhi, Oct 16 (UNI) Taking serious note of the violence against minorities in Orissa, Karnataka and some other parts of the country over the conversion issue, the Indian Humanist Union(IHU) has urged the Government to protect the citizens' ''Fundamental Right to Conscience''.

In a resolution adopted at its meeting here, the Union noted with concern that ''lately political groups in the country were showing an increasing intolerance to the diversity of religions and cultures, which is the essential feature of Indian democracy.'' ''The Indian Humanist Union condemns the use of violence in pursuit of sectarian and religious objectives and reiterates that all political parties, especialy those associated with the majority community, to reinforce that the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution were safeguarded,'' it said.

The Union urged all state governments to take effective steps to control violence.

It also underlined the role of education in weening away the people from fundamentalism.

UNI NAZ RSA KP1708