Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday avoided commenting on the ongoing controversy surrounding the religious conversions, saying the opposition parties try to derive political benefit from any incident that happens in the state.
"If something happens in UP, parties in opposition try and derive political benefit from it," Akhilesh told the media here.
"Our priority is that the promises that SP (Samajwadi Party) has made to the people have to be fulfilled," he added.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Manish Tewari expressed serious concern over the religious conversion issue and sought an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Forced conversion is a very serious matter and the Prime Minister ought to clarify as to whether the RSS and the BJP have unleashed their instrumentalities on this nation to convert people from one religion to another because never before has it happened that you had such monumental religious polarization playing itself out......And the Prime Minister remains silent. So, the Prime Minister needs to clarify," he told ANI in New Delhi
The Uttar Pradesh Minority Commission has requested the police to investigate the alleged forceful conversion by Hindu groups of Muslim families in Agra, adding that it was treating the matter very seriously.
"When the media brought forth the issue of conversion of religion in Agra, then acting on the orders of the president of the commission, we informed the District Magistrate (DM) and the senior superintendant of police (SSP) of the matter via a letter. We requested that they investigate the matter thoroughly within three days and the commission shall be travelling to Agra at the earliest," UP Minority Commission member Sohail Ayub told ANI in Lucknow.
"The commission has taken the issue very seriously because the forced conversion of an individual is against the law. If what the media is showcased is true, that the people who were converted, did so for material gain, then it is a very serious matter," he added.
Earlier in the day, a united opposition mounted pressure on the BJP-led government in the Lok Sabha and demanded an explanation from the Centre over the conversions organized in Agra reportedly by groups linked to the RSS.
Around 200 people were reportedly converted to Hinduism in a ceremony in Agra by groups linked to the BJP's ideological mentor RSS.
Bajrang Dal and Dharam Jagran Manch, the groups that performed the mass conversions, reportedly claimed that the families were originally Hindus and converted to Islam around 30 years ago.
