New Delhi: BJP chief Rajnath Singh has shot off a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, defending anti-conversion laws that the pontiff criticised as discriminatory restrictions on religious freedom in India.
In his May 20 letter to the Vatican, Singh insisted that such laws were declared constitutionally valid by the Supreme Court as he cited excerpts from a 1977 judgement over a similar legislation in Madhya Pradesh.
Also, the BJP leader covertly criticised the Pope for commenting on religious freedom in India, saying he believed the Vatican would treat similar remarks on the church as an interference.
"As the head of the Vatican, you will agree that my interference in your religious domain will be unwelcome, uncalled for and will be treated as an interference in your religious management and administration," Singh wrote.
The BJP leader insisted that religious conversions prompted by force or by financial and educational lures could not be called secular activities.
"According to the country's top court, organised conversion, whether by force or fraud or by providing help or allurement to persons, taking undue advantage of their poverty and ignorance is anti secular," he said.
In his letter, Singh named all states, including Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh, with anti-conversion laws.
Also, the BJP leader, whose party has criticised the Pope for his remarks, said such comments could spark militant reaction.
"We have to exercise restraint in our reactions to any given situation lest our harsh reactions might generate militant mood in society to the detriment of harmony," he said.
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