No need for anti-conversion law: Resolution at AMU seminar

Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University Tuesday organised a national seminar on religion and inter-faith during which a three-point resolution was passed, stating that there is no need for an anti-conversion law in the country.

The seminar on 'Interfaith Dialogues and Commonality of All Religions' was organised by the Department of Sunni Theology of the university and attended by prominent scholars representing different religious faith.

At the seminar, a three-point resolution was passed, said the convener of the seminar Mufti Zahid Ali Khan.

The participants called upon heads of state and religious leaders in the Indian subcontinent to take steps for preserving rights of all religious minorities, Khan said.

It was concluded that if peace is to be restored in the world, the Indian subcontinent, which is home to almost all religious faiths in the world, will have to take the lead in ensuring justice to all sections, he said.

At the seminar, a call was made for protecting the Indian Constitution under which every individual has the right to propagate his religion and follow the religion of choice.

The resolution states that the proposal to bring in a new law for preventing religious conversions would strike at the very root of the Indian Constitution, Khan said.

It states that there are enough existing provisions in the country's laws to prevent conversion through inducements, fear or any other type of pressure, Khan said.

Any attempt to bring a new law should be terminated before it spread further mistrust between different sections of society, the resolution states.

The resolution also urges the government to provide an opportunity both at the graduate and postgraduate levels for students to study religious ideas of two different religions apart from their own religion, Khan said.

The move has now become necessary in view of the rising religious intolerance in the country, it said.

Noted Islamic scholar and Director of the Muslim Electorate Council of America Aslam Abdullah said, "History has recorded that more than 3 billion people have been killed in the name of religion in the world during recorded history. The major responsibility for spilling of human blood lies on the heads of religious leaders belonging to all religions."

Abdullah said the feeling of self righteousness and false superiority promoted by clerics of all religions was responsible for people betraying the core of their religious faith and indulging in destruction of those belonging to different faith.

The Pro-Vice Chancellor of AMU Brigadier S Ahmad Ali, who presided over the seminar, said, "AMU is ready to play its due role in promoting the cause of interfaith dialogue and thus spreading peace and goodwill in today's troubled world."