Several hundreds of people from across the state reportedly attended a protest meeting at Azad Maidan on Sunday to condemn the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh on charges of religious conversion.
Several speakers at the meeting have opposed the move for anti-conversion law and demanded that the minority commission be established in the state. It must be said that there has not been proof of even a single case of religious conversion reported in the state though in the past a pastor was falsely accused of allegedly conducting mass conversion.
Hence an anti-conversion law for religious conversion in the state is unwarranted.
However what Goa badly needs is an anti-conversion law against land conversion which is going on rampantly. Goa’s battle against mega housing projects has been ongoing for nearly two decades, with citizens repeatedly resisting large-scale developments that threaten the State’s identity and environment.
Real estate dealers continue to find ways to bypass regulations. With ecologically sensitive hills rezoned for profit, real estate greed is eating into Goa’s forests, wetlands, and what is left of the state.
The result has been disastrous for Goa’s ecology. Hence anti-conversion laws for land conversion is the need of the hour and not for religious conversions.
