Togadia says ancestors of Muslims, Christians were Hindus

Adding fuel to fire in the recent conversion-row, working president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Pravin Togadia said ancestors of Indian Muslims and Christians were Hindus.

"The ancestors of Indian Muslims were Hindus. The ancestors of Christians were Hindu as well. History says that many people converted to Islam due to atrocities and by the force of the swords of Moghul emperors," Togadia said on Tuesday night at the golden jubilee celebration of VHP at Bhavnagar town in Gujarat.

"At present, in this India, there is no atrocity or force on Hindus. In such a situation, if someone wants to return to the Hindu society, the Hindus should accept him whole heartedly," added Togadia.

A controversy erupted after a right wing group Dharma Jagran Manch had organised a reconversion ceremony naming it as ghar-wapasi (homecoming) and had allegedly converted about 100 people, mostly poor Muslim slum dwellers, through a ritual carried out by the Hindu organisation on December 8 in Agra of Uttar Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, had also justified the act of the Hindu organisation and said that it is an ongoing process and will continue to happen.

Adityanath also batted for a strong anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh on the lines of legislation adopted by several states.

This created ruckus in both houses of the Parliament as the opposition demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the alleged conversion.

The main accused and convener of the organisation in Uttar Pradesh, Nand Kishore Balmiki was arrested on Tuesday by Agra police.