Nine people were arrested in Hyderabad for allegedly forcing children to convert to Islam.

Islam Conversion On Rise

Nowadays, the Hindu to Islam conversion rate has been increasing.  An estimated of 5,793 non-muslims have been forcibly converted to Islam between 2011 to 2015. Especially Hindu women are being forcefully converted to Islam and are being sent to Dubai as Muslim brides. In a recent case in Hyderabad, nine persons who ran a residential child care centre were arrested by Rachakonda police in Malkajgiri on Sunday. The child care centre is alleged to be converting children to Islam.

Poor Children Forced To Convert

The accused who were arrested were running an orphanage named Peace Orphan Home Society and were luring children from poor families of Telangana. They assured them free food, education and shelter if they converted to Islam. Police rescued 17 children in the age group of 4-14 years including 7 girls from Moula Ali area. Satyanarayana alias Mohammed Siddique who was the organiser of the centre was himself a Hindu who had converted to Islam in the year 2004.

The accused told the parents that they would be given good quality education and free accommodation.  ACP G. Sandeep said that the men changed the faith of the children. Since these children belonged to backward communities the would be eligible for government services when grown up. In this way, they could convert more children to Islam. The accused have been booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 363 (Kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement). It is also said that the organisation was not registered.

Conclusion

India is a secular country and believes in the right to freedom to express one’s thoughts and views. In India, everyone has been bestowed the right to chose their religion. But no one has the right to force one to convert their religion. One should adopt a religion with faith and not with greed or fear. All religions in the world preach us that God is one. No religion propagates violence and cruelty. Crime in the name of religion should be seriously condemned by every citizen.