BARABANKI/AMETHI: Faced with fresh attempts to stoke controversy through alleged conversions in Uttar Pradesh, the district police in Amethi on Friday put under preventive detention of 14 days one Arvind D'Souza to maintain law and order in the district. According to allegations levelled by local Hindu groups, D'Souza was "spreading the word of Christianity" among a group of village folk in Maulvikhurd village of Tiloi tehsil.
Though use of coercion could not be established, the police detained D'Souza so that no law and order concerns could be raked up. Sources said the detention was effected on the basis of complaints lodged by local workers of the Dharm Jagran Manch, who alleged D'Souza was attempting to "forcibly" convert innocent men and women by luring them with free copies of the Bible.
When contacted, Amethi SP Hira Lal said, "A resident of Jais in Amethi, D'Souza used to go to Maulvikhurd to spread the word about Christianity. He was not found using force to convert anyone. However, since this event could have led to law and order concerns, the police picked him up under section 151 CrPC, and the SDM put him in preventive detention of 14 days."
Meanwhile, in another instance of alleged re-conversion, Barabanki district saw one Waris Ali, a 55-year-old resident of Dilawalpur village in Asandra police station, performing a "hawan" and proclaiming to his village that his family and he had converted to Hinduism. Though no person or organization came forward to claim responsibility for Ali's change of heart, Ali now goes by the name of Nirbhay Das, his wife Khairunissa as Mohini and 10-year-old son Naushad by the name of Preetam Das. The trio also organised a religious gathering of locals at the mausoleum of a local social reformer Saint Jagjiwan Das on Sunday and announced his conversion. Speaking to TOI, Barabanki SP Abdul Hameed, said, "The family began following the Hindu religion since 2011. They constructed a temple in their village and offered prayers. No other person or party influenced their decision." Locals also said Ali was a follower of the late Saint Jagjiwan Das, who his father also followed. That prompted him to follow Sanatan Dharm as well.
UP man ‘spreading word of Christ’ held - The Times of India
There goes the same freedom of speech in to the trash can that many Bharatis were talking about on this forum.
