Are Muslims FORCING Hindus to convert?
"Extremist Muslims" are going into Universities and forcing Hindu girls to convert, so claimed the Hindu Forum of Britain.
The Hindu Security Conference 2007 was held last Wednesday and was attended by over 160 delegates from the Hindu Forum of Britain, the National Hindu Students Forum and the Metropolitan Police to discuss and debate issues ranging from faith and identity, radicalisation and extremism on campus; to safety in street crime and Stop and Search.
It was alleged that Muslim boys invited Hindu girls on dates before beginning campaigns of ‘terrorism’ until they converted.
The secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, Ramesh Kallidai, said: "The Police and other agencies may not know about the high levels of resentment building up in the Hindu and Sikh communities over aggressive conversion techniques and intimidation by radical Islamist groups on campuses. Families are breaking down, while some of our girls have been beaten up and had to leave university."
"Extremist Muslims make life miserable for Hindu girls. Some are petrified: they feel these men have a complete hold on them," Kallidai added.
He estimated that hundreds of Hindus girls have been targeted with some reports of Muslim boys being paid £5000 for each successful conversion.
A spokesman from The Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) told The Muslim Weekly: "I think it was blown out of proportion by some reports. We had anecdotes from students who attended the conference. They are from the National Hindu Student Forum. The people who spoke out said it was from personal experiences, that they have been harassed and bullied. The problem which we and the police recognised was that there was no proper system of recording of such incidents."
Commenting on the general resentment in the Hindu community mentioned by Kallidai, the HFB spokesman said: "One of the issues raised is that Stop and Search affects Asians. They don’t break it down. Many Hindus have been stopped and searched and they don’t know why. It is difficult to tell if there is an increase in both conversion and cases of force. We need to get the facts and figures right and see how this has impacted on the community."
A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police Service told The Muslim Weekly: "The Commissioner and other MPS colleagues attended a Hindu security conference organised by the Hindu Forum of Great Britain on February 21. The issue of Hindu girls being reportedly subjected to aggressive conversion techniques and intimidation on university campuses was raised. We are aware of it as an issue that concerns the Hindu community, particularly young people but we are not aware, without further research, of any specific incidents that have been reported to police. We do not have criminal reports being made. What we have are anecdotal reports…The Hindu community has shown a strong desire to set up a Hindu Safety Forum at Scotland Yard and if it is formed, the MPS will engage with and support it the same way we support the Muslim Safety Forum here."
The Vice President of the Students Union at the Metropolitan University and Chair of the National Student Respect Committee, Noreen Fatima, told The Muslim Weekly: "I have never come across such things. There have been many students who have converted to Islam in the university. I know of Hindu girls, Russian girls, guys from Hong Kong who have converted. As Muslims, we spread the message of Islam, but never with force. If they would like to read any Islamic literature, we provide it to them. We have a complaint system in schools, and if these so called persons were really under stress, they would have reported it. Our society is such that people do speak out. I think that these are mere baseless allegations, because the reality is there have been no complaints made to the school. The fact is that families of converts are not happy that their children have converted to Islam. I think maybe a person who converted made such an allegation out of some self interest and it was picked up by those who wish to smear the image of Muslims."
Speaking to The Muslim Weekly, Tower Hamlets Councillor, Rania Khan said: "I want to clarify if the allegations are true or not. There have been many allegations made against Muslims before and many have been proven false. I do not know any Islamic organisation that would condone such a thing. Islam says: ‘To you your religion and to me mine.’ I think that they are trying to divide the community again, to pit the Muslims against the Hindus. My message to both communities is to ignore the negative media and to stick together as minorities."
Dr Anthony McRoy, a Lecturer at the Evangelical Theological College of Wales who specialises in Islamic studies, told The Muslim Weekly: "It does sound rather suspicious. Under Shari’ah law, any forced conversion would be invalid. Under British law, any form of coercion is unlawful. If they got evidence, let them present them. The girls have to come forward to the police. People will be skeptical without any hard evidence."
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra of the Muslim Council of Britain told The Muslim Weekly: "Islam does not allow forced conversions. Those who convert have to do so with sincerity and conviction. Islam does not allow an act of haram (forbidden), even if it’s to convert people to Islam. The means have to be halal (permissible) for the ends to be halal. I would very strongly reject these allegations. Our religion does not require us to convert others through bribery and force. We are required to carry out da’wah (preaching) through our lives and actions, to be good role models for society. I urge young Muslims interested in the field of da’wah to join their Islamic societies on campuses where they will learn the right techniques."
The Muslim Weekly managed to get a statement from a Hindu sister who reverted to Islam: "I came from a purely Hindu family. I’d like to say that I had accepted Islam not blindly, or under any compulsion. In the Qur’an itself there is a verse which says ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion’. I accepted Islam with conviction. I have seen, been there, done that, and seen both sides of the story. I know and have experienced what the other side is like, and I know that I have done the right thing."
The Hindu Security Conference 2007 was held last Wednesday and was attended by over 160 delegates from the Hindu Forum of Britain, the National Hindu Students Forum and the Metropolitan Police to discuss and debate issues ranging from faith and identity, radicalisation and extremism on campus; to safety in street crime and Stop and Search.
It was alleged that Muslim boys invited Hindu girls on dates before beginning campaigns of ‘terrorism’ until they converted.
The secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, Ramesh Kallidai, said: "The Police and other agencies may not know about the high levels of resentment building up in the Hindu and Sikh communities over aggressive conversion techniques and intimidation by radical Islamist groups on campuses. Families are breaking down, while some of our girls have been beaten up and had to leave university."
"Extremist Muslims make life miserable for Hindu girls. Some are petrified: they feel these men have a complete hold on them," Kallidai added.
He estimated that hundreds of Hindus girls have been targeted with some reports of Muslim boys being paid £5000 for each successful conversion.
A spokesman from The Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) told The Muslim Weekly: "I think it was blown out of proportion by some reports. We had anecdotes from students who attended the conference. They are from the National Hindu Student Forum. The people who spoke out said it was from personal experiences, that they have been harassed and bullied. The problem which we and the police recognised was that there was no proper system of recording of such incidents."
Commenting on the general resentment in the Hindu community mentioned by Kallidai, the HFB spokesman said: "One of the issues raised is that Stop and Search affects Asians. They don’t break it down. Many Hindus have been stopped and searched and they don’t know why. It is difficult to tell if there is an increase in both conversion and cases of force. We need to get the facts and figures right and see how this has impacted on the community."
A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police Service told The Muslim Weekly: "The Commissioner and other MPS colleagues attended a Hindu security conference organised by the Hindu Forum of Great Britain on February 21. The issue of Hindu girls being reportedly subjected to aggressive conversion techniques and intimidation on university campuses was raised. We are aware of it as an issue that concerns the Hindu community, particularly young people but we are not aware, without further research, of any specific incidents that have been reported to police. We do not have criminal reports being made. What we have are anecdotal reports…The Hindu community has shown a strong desire to set up a Hindu Safety Forum at Scotland Yard and if it is formed, the MPS will engage with and support it the same way we support the Muslim Safety Forum here."
The Vice President of the Students Union at the Metropolitan University and Chair of the National Student Respect Committee, Noreen Fatima, told The Muslim Weekly: "I have never come across such things. There have been many students who have converted to Islam in the university. I know of Hindu girls, Russian girls, guys from Hong Kong who have converted. As Muslims, we spread the message of Islam, but never with force. If they would like to read any Islamic literature, we provide it to them. We have a complaint system in schools, and if these so called persons were really under stress, they would have reported it. Our society is such that people do speak out. I think that these are mere baseless allegations, because the reality is there have been no complaints made to the school. The fact is that families of converts are not happy that their children have converted to Islam. I think maybe a person who converted made such an allegation out of some self interest and it was picked up by those who wish to smear the image of Muslims."
Speaking to The Muslim Weekly, Tower Hamlets Councillor, Rania Khan said: "I want to clarify if the allegations are true or not. There have been many allegations made against Muslims before and many have been proven false. I do not know any Islamic organisation that would condone such a thing. Islam says: ‘To you your religion and to me mine.’ I think that they are trying to divide the community again, to pit the Muslims against the Hindus. My message to both communities is to ignore the negative media and to stick together as minorities."
Dr Anthony McRoy, a Lecturer at the Evangelical Theological College of Wales who specialises in Islamic studies, told The Muslim Weekly: "It does sound rather suspicious. Under Shari’ah law, any forced conversion would be invalid. Under British law, any form of coercion is unlawful. If they got evidence, let them present them. The girls have to come forward to the police. People will be skeptical without any hard evidence."
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra of the Muslim Council of Britain told The Muslim Weekly: "Islam does not allow forced conversions. Those who convert have to do so with sincerity and conviction. Islam does not allow an act of haram (forbidden), even if it’s to convert people to Islam. The means have to be halal (permissible) for the ends to be halal. I would very strongly reject these allegations. Our religion does not require us to convert others through bribery and force. We are required to carry out da’wah (preaching) through our lives and actions, to be good role models for society. I urge young Muslims interested in the field of da’wah to join their Islamic societies on campuses where they will learn the right techniques."
The Muslim Weekly managed to get a statement from a Hindu sister who reverted to Islam: "I came from a purely Hindu family. I’d like to say that I had accepted Islam not blindly, or under any compulsion. In the Qur’an itself there is a verse which says ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion’. I accepted Islam with conviction. I have seen, been there, done that, and seen both sides of the story. I know and have experienced what the other side is like, and I know that I have done the right thing."
