Buddhists in J&K seek PM’s intervention into religious conversion

Jammu

An organisation representing Buddhists in Jammu and Kashmir today submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention into the alleged conversion of several members of the community.

“We are a micro-minority in the state and in the recent past there have been several cases of conversion, wherein members of our community are being lured to a particular community in Zanskar area of Ladakh,” Ladakh Buddhist Association’s general secretary Sonam Dawa told PTI.

Dawa alleged that allurement, coercion and other tactics were being used to convert the members of their community.

“Last year, 5 Buddhist families were converted and in the past few weeks four girls have been converted,” he claimed.

In a recent case, Dawa said, a female school student from Buddhist community eloped and married her teacher and later converted to his religion. “We lodged a police complaint, but no action was taken. There is a bigger conspiracy against the Buddhist community of the state,” he alleged.

Dawa said LBA’s president Tsewang Thinles is presently in Delhi to meet the Member of Parliament (MP) from Ladakh to apprise him about the issue.

“This is a very serious issue and this has been happening for past sometime, but nobody listens to us. I have come to Delhi to raise the issue with the people who are at the helm of affairs,” Thinles said over the phone.

“We have a distinct religion and a distinct identity…The Centre must act to save our young generation,” he said.

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