“These converted people are depriving genuine people from the right of reservation,” said VHP Secretary General Milind Parande in Nagpur
Nagpur: The National Secretary General of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Milind Parande on Friday said that the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe people who converted to Islam or Christianity should be debarred from getting the reservation benefits. “These converted people are depriving genuine people from the right of reservation,” he said.
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Saturday 25 Jan. 2025
The VHP has alleged secret conversions, mainly into Christianity, by persons from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, but such converts continuing to avail the benefits of reservation without disclosing their change of faith. Seeking a crackdown on such claimants by government, the VHP Secretary General said reservations are not meant for people of other religions. Parande is the second-in-command in the VHP.
Addressing a press conference at Devi Ahilya Mandir, Dhantoli, Parande announced that VHP would launch an awareness campaign across India. Parande said that Christian missionaries were holding conversion programmes in Dharni and Melghat in Amravati district, Aheri in Gadchiroli apart from parts of Chandrapur and Nagpur city.
“VHP is launching a programme to counter the activities,” he said. In Southern India, there is no record with the government about converted Christians. However, each village has two or three churches. “If the churches are existing then who are worshipping there?” he questioned. Villagers are converted to Christianity but government has no record while people are availing reservation benefits, he alleged.
Parande quoted statement of ‘Bharat Ratna’ Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in which he had stated that the people converted to Christianity or Islam should not be considered as the members of Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste. Parande claimed that four percent of the population of India was ‘crypto Christian’ who were not allowing their conversion to Christianity to get registered in government records. Around 18 per cent converted people are getting 80 percent benefits of reservation, he claimed.
Parande informed media persons that VHP had launched a non-line drive to bring in at least 50 lakh new volunteers in the age group of 15- 35 years to its youth wing — Bajrang Dal. “Those in the age group of 15-35 years can join Bajrang Dal by filling up the Google form, link of which has been made available at our website,” the VHP Secretary General said.
A nation-wide drive to connect new well-wishers of VHP to the main outfit would also be rolled out on November 6, he added.
VHP’s Vidarbha President Rajeshwar Niwal, Prant Mantri Govind Shende, Prant Prachar Prasar Pramukh Niranjan Risaldar, Bajrang Dal Convenor Lakhan Kuril, Rishabh Arkhel and others also were present at the press conference.
