MP: Right-wing group stops vehicle carrying tribal students, allege religious conversion

NEW DELHI: Right-wing activists created ruckus by intercepting a vehicle transporting a group of children to a programme at a school in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa on Monday, accusing the organisers of religious conversion, police said. The incident occurred when a vehicle was transporting a group of tribal boys and girls to a programme being organised at Saint Pius School in Khandwa, an official said.

Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal stopped the vehicle near the school, alleging that the children were being taken for religious conversion. According to eye-witnesses, the right-wing activists stopped the vehicle for a long time till the police and district officials reached the spot. The VHP's district secretary Animesh Joshi claimed that they had stopped the vehicle after receiving information that a group of tribal boys and girls were being brought for religious conversion.

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Action should be taken against the organisers, as they were conducting the programme without permission, he said. Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Arvind Chouhan, who also reached the spot following the incident, said the police were investigating the matter, as the programme was organised without any prior permission. The police have recorded the statements of the children, organisers and school teachers and further legal steps will be taken after a probe, he said.

Meanwhile, Father Jose, the organiser of the programme, claimed that only catholic boys and girls were invited for the programme, and efforts to seek permission for the event from the district administration were not successful.