Conversion cases in Kandhamal more than official records

Bhubaneswar, Sept 16 (PTI) Conversion cases in Kandhamal
(in India's eastern state of Orissa) between 2004-2007 far
exceeded the official records of just two, the judicial
commission probing last year's riots in the district was told
Wednesday.

"There were many cases of conversions but few intimated
the district administration," former Kandhamal district
magistrate cum collector Gangadhar Singh told the Justice S C
Mahapatra Commission probing the largescale communal violence
that followed the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
leader Laxamananda Saraswati.

Refusing to comment on whether conversion was a cause of
violence in Kandhamal last year, Singh who was the DM of
Kandhamal from September 15, 2004 to October 3, 2007, said
during cross-examination that though there was a register at
the collector's office recording cases of conversion, only two
intimations regarding conversion were registered in the
district in January, 2004.

"The statutory provisions of the Orissa Freedom of
Religion Act (OFRA) were not followed", he said, adding that
there were no prosecutions as no complaint had been made
against conversion, he said.

The census figure, on the other hand, showed rise in
the size of population of all religious groups in Kandhamal,
he said. (MORE) PTI