Gujarat police have booked the Missionaries of Charity, an organisation founded by Mother Teresa under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, for allegedly “hurting Hindu religious sentiments” and “luring young girls towards Christianity” in a shelter home it runs in Vadodara city.
Responding to the allegation, the organisation has denied all charges. The FIR was lodged on Sunday at Makarpura police station by the District Social Defence Officer, Mayank Trivedi who, along with the Chairman of the Child Welfare Committee of the district, visited the Home for Girls run by the Missionaries of Charity in Makarpura area on December 9.
In the FIR he stated that during his visit, he found that girls at the home were being ‘forced’ to read Christian religious texts and participate in their prayers, with the intention of “steering them into Christianity”.
As per Indian Express (IE) report, the FIR the matter reads, “Between February 10, 2021, and December 9, 2021, the institution has been involved in activities to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus intentionally and with bitterness… The girls inside the Home for Girls are being lured to adopt Christianity by making them wear the cross around their neck and also placing the Bible on the table of the storeroom used by the girls, in order to compel them to read the Bible… It is an attempted crime to force religious conversion upon the girls.” The local police have initiated a probe in the matter.
A spokesperson for the Missionaries of Charity told IE that they are not involved in any religious conversion activity, there are 24 girls in the home, who live with them and follow their practices as they see them doing. “We have not converted anyone or forced anyone to marry into Christian faith,” the spokesperson added.
Officials probing the matter said that as per the complaint, the organisation forced a Hindu girl to marry into a Christian family as per Christian traditions and further alleged that she was served non-vegetarian food despite being Hindu. Assistant Commissioner of Police SB Kumavat said the District Collector had issued instructions to book a case against the organisation after a committee probed the allegations made by Trivedi.
“The District Collector had formed a committee after the complaint from the Child Welfare Committee. A team of members of several departments probed the allegation, following which a complaint has been filed. Police will probe the allegations and gather evidence to see if the contentions are true,” Kumavat told Indian Express.
Vadodara Commissioner of Police Shamsher Singh told IE that police had begun a probe into the alleged conversion of a woman from Punjab, which the committee has brought up. However, a probe in the matter is underway.
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