Foreign hand in conversions: Advani

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Tirupati: BJP leader L K Advani on Monday said there has been a spurt in religious conversions and national and state legislations should be introduced to prohibit conversions through inducement or coercion.

"We strongly condemn the campaign of proselytisation which poses a grave threat to Hindu society. We demand stern action against those who indulge in such activities," he said.

"Organised foreign-funded conversion campaign by evangelical groups" is a threat to national integration and Hindu society, he said after praying at the Tirumala temple.

"It is bad enough that religious conversions are conducted in a systematic manner through inducements and coercions. But such activities more ominous when they are facilitated by foreign funded organizations, ostensibly under the garb of social service for poor and under-privileged families," he said.

Foreign-funded proselytisation campaigns targeted scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and poor people. Hindu organisations are dubbed "communal, anti-minority and anti-secular" if they protested against such campaigns, he said.

"The BJP will not tolerate such perversion of secularism. We will raise our voice strongly in favour of a national- as well as state-level legislation prohibiting religious conversions through inducements or coercion," Advani said.

Advani then left for campaigning in Tamil Nadu, rounding off the first leg of his Bharat Suraksha Yatra in Andhra Pradesh during which he visited Anantapur and Chitoor districts in the Railseema region.