LUCKNOW: In a twist to the controversy over alleged mass conversion of 236 members of Dalit Valmiki community to Buddhism in Karhera village in Ghaziabad, the district police, on Thursday, lodged an FIR under Sahibabad police station against unidentified persons for fomenting caste conflict in NCR and western UP by spreading rumours about the alleged religious conversion.
While state government called it a plot to vitiate atmosphere, Ghaziabad district administration denied any such incident having taken place.
The Ghaziabad police proceeded to register the case under Section 153-A (Attack upon religion, race, place of birth, residence, language of any particular group or class or a religion) and 505 (Conducing public mischief by spreading rumours) of IPC against unidentified persons on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Montu Chandel of the same community and the colony where the incident allegedly took place.
Sharing the details, Ghaziabad SP (City-II) Gyanendra Singh said that the complainant had claimed in his complaint that some unidentified persons associated with some organisations had indulged in rumour mongering by spreading fake information about the alleged conversion of 230 people belonging to Valmiki community on Wednesday October 21.
As per the SP City, the related certificates were found to be absolutely fake as they neither carried the name and addresses of those who were converted nor was there any substantiating document to proof their identities. “There was no registration number on the certificates either,” said the cop.
Meanwhile, the UP government, in a statement said that during the investigation, it was found that a criminal conspiracy was hatched to spread rumours of religious conversion in a bid to disturb the harmony and peace in NCR and western UP.
It also came to fore during the course of investigation that the false narrative was being built using blank papers and incomplete documents. Those who distributed those papers called the community members and gave them forms of beneficial schemes of the government. After distribution of these alleged forms, rumours of religious conversions were spread in a bid to tarnish the image of the government.
State government official spokesman and cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that the state government was looking into each and every aspect of the conspiracy. “We will see to it that no sect, caste or community is forced to undergo religious conversion in UP,” said the minister. He added that it was a bid to incite clashes in the name of religion and caste and soon those forces would be exposed.
Notably, those who allegedly “converted” were said to be residents of Valmiki Basti, near the Hindon airbase. They claimed they converted on October 14 to seek justice for the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras who was allegedly gang-raped and later died of her injuries last month.
While the district officials denied any conversion having taken place saying that when they visited the locality, people raised issues such as jobs, power supply and housing, the sources claimed that some members of the community who had even added ‘Boudh’ to their name, after the “conversion”, said that more people would convert in case their demands were not met within a week.
According to district officials including Ghaziabad DM Ajay Shankar Pandey, members of the Valmiki community demanded a community centre for functions and benefits under PM Awas Yojna and Ujjwala Schemes, etc. The DM even claimed that prohibitory orders were in place at Karhera since the
pandemic struck, making it impossible that 236 people to gather for a “conversion” ceremony. However, an additional district magistrate was inquiring into it, he added.
However, the sources claimed that some members of the community had met Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the National Capital on Wednesday. Later, AAP MP Sanjay Singh tweeted pictures of the meeting and wrote: “There is no justice for Dalits under the rule of Yogi Adityanath. They are being raped and murdered. Angry after the Hathras scandal, several from the Valmiki community left Hinduism. They shared their pain with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.”