PATNA: News pertaining to attempts aimed at conversion of people hailing from remote villages have been keep surfacing on regular intervals. In many of the incidents the conversion agents firstly spread fallacy about prevalent traditions and customs of the targeted community and then cunningly lead them into conversion subsequently.
A similar incident has come to the fore from Hathodi area of Bihar, where an alleged attempt of misleading the local women was thwarted by a section of vigilant villagers who halted the ongoing program by arriving on the spot.
According to the reports, a few people have organised a program by erecting a tent in the Ekma village under Hathodi police station limits of Muzaffarpur on Wednesday, September 11, where they were inciting the locals against idol worship. However, a section of the villagers soon barged at the spot and confronted those inciting the gathering, mostly consists of local women.
A video pertaining to the incident is also doing rounds on the social media in which a local Youtuber can be seen interacting with the speakers and a few of the local women while questioning them about the misinformation being spread about idol worshiping.
बिहार के माननीय मुख्यमंत्री @NitishKumar जी मुजफ्फरपुर जिला के हथौड़ी थाना क्षेत्र में इस ढंग से लोगों को बहला फुसलाकर कर धर्म परिवर्तन करने को कहा जा रहा है आपसे आग्रह है कि इस मामला को संज्ञान में लेकर उचित जांच करवाया जाए।#Bihar #Muzaffarpur @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/io5BvTfmvg
— Mithun Mishra (@mishra189) September 13, 2024
According to the details, the speakers at the events were asking the women to avoid wearing symbols linked with Hinduism, the women have been also asked to not to worship the Hindu god/goddess but Parmeshwar (Jesus Christ). One of the woman in the gathering also goes on claiming that serious illnesses like cancer could be cured with holy water.
A group of villagers however soon confronted the speakers at the program accusing them of promoting conversion by spreading misinformation among the uneducated women of the locality. According to the villagers, most of the women gathered in the program are uneducated who are being lured into conversion.
Learning about the incident a police team too reached at the spot, however by then the speakers have left the spot. The team then calmed the situation by interacting with the locals. According to media reports, the authorities have denied any attempt of conversion terming it as rumors.
According to the local residents, a youth along with a woman have been visiting the said locality for quite some time and convincing a section of local women to stop following their traditional methods of worship. They have been asking the residents to not to indulge in idol worshipping alongside convincing them that mere praying to the Parmeshwar could cure serious illnesses.
It must be noted that this is not the only time that such a gathering has been organised in the area and similar programs aimed at misleading the locals into leaving their traditional methods have also surfaced from the neighboring areas last year, raising speculation about a larger ploy behind surge in such activities in the area.
