Panaji, Jul 21 (PTI) A 26-year-old woman arrested by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force from Goa in a joint operation with the local police in connection with an interstate religious conversion racket had come here to meet her parents, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said in the assembly on Monday.
It is time Goa comes up with an anti-conversion law as cases of “love jihad” have been reported in the state, Sawant said.
The issue was raised in the assembly by BJP MLA Premendra Shet and AAP legislator Cruz Silva through a calling attention motion, while Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai, Congress MLAs Carlos Alvares Ferreira and Altone D’Cruz as well as Revolutionary Goans Party MLA Viresh Borkar demanded an explanation from the CM.
Responding to the motion, the chief minister said, “Goa police helped their Uttar Pradesh counterparts arrest the accused who was found living at Old Goa (near Panaji). She is not a resident of Goa but had come to meet her parents. Our investigation has revealed she studied outside and was not living in Goa.” Police have identified her as Ayesha.
Forceful religious conversion will not be tolerated in Goa, Sawant said while detailing action against proscribed outfits like Popular Front of India.
“It is time Goa comes up with an anti-conversion law. We had even noticed cases of love jihad in the state,” the CM said.
Asserting there has been denial (from some segments) on incidents of “love jihad”, Sawant said “if you want, I can give you details of the cases later”.
Love jihad is a term used by right-wing organisations to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into marriage in order to convert them to Islam.
Ruling out any intelligence failure, the CM said the state police have taken up intensive tenant verification, adding that those failing to submit tenant verification forms would be booked as per the law.
The chief minister said local gram panchayats and panch members should also cooperate with the police to identify people who are living in their areas.
The Uttar Pradesh, on July 19, busted the conversion racket and arrested 10 people from six states.
The probe into the matter began in Agra in March after two sisters — aged 33 and 18 — were reported missing. Investigations revealed they were allegedly coerced into religious conversion and were undergoing radicalization, UP police said. PTI RPS BNM
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