It is very disturbing that the chief minister, Pramod Sawant, is trying to divide Goa on communal lines. There is absolutely no truth to the chief minister’s claim that there are any cases of love jihad in Goa. Neither the Muslim minority community nor the sizable Christian minority in the state has ever been interested in conversions, certainly not after the liberation of Goa. I know of cases where the church has refused to entertain offers of Hindus converting to Christianity in the state. In any case, the requirements for conversion to Christianity are so stringent that I doubt whether any Hindu or Muslim would be interested. Potential converts, besides swearing affidavits that they are interested in voluntary conversion without any inducement or coercion, have to undergo Bible study classes for over eight weeks and clear the exam before being considered. We have never heard of a single instance of either Hindus or Catholics in Goa wanting to convert to Islam. There is no incentive or provocation to convert to Islam as Muslims are in a minority and they have no political or economic domination in the state. On the contrary, there is a strong incentive for Muslims and Hindus to convert to the Catholic faith due to the opportunity to acquire citizenship of Portugal. This opportunity is only available to Goans, irrespective of their religion, who were residents of Goa before liberation.
Admittedly, there have been several instances of migrants applying for changes in their name to typical Goan names. This is to overcome the reservation of government jobs only for sons of the soil. Unfortunately, the laws enforced permit anyone to change their names through affidavits and gazette notification without providing any reasons.
The chief ministers’ claim that Goa needs an anti-conversion law like Uttar Pradesh to curb cases of love Jihad is totally absurd. Even in the case of UP and other BJP-ruled states, there is hard evidence of any Hindus having converted to Islam because of love jihad. Love jihad is an expression used to describe alleged conspiracies by Muslims to get Hindu girls to fall in love with them and convert to Islam. There are claims that militant Muslim groups have been offering huge bribes and inducements to Hindu girls to convert to Islam. The Love Jihad is a campaign launched by the BJP to defame the Muslim community. In the time of social media, no woman or girl can be persuaded to convert for marriage because of inducements. The law against conversions in UP and other BJP-ruled states is targeted towards Christian machinery groups rather than Muslim organizations. The members of brutal murder of a Protestant machinery Graham Staines in Rajasthan is still fresh in our memories. In fact, the Ram Janm Bhoomi at Ayodhya was inaugurated on the same day as the death anniversary, or rather the murder anniversary of Graham Staines.
It may be noted that even the conversion bill passed by BJP-ruled states only bans forcible conversions or conversions by inducement. Considering that BJP is in power both at the centre and in the BJP-ruled states, nobody in his right mind is likely to convert to Islam or even Christianity. This is because doing so will invite harassment by the BJP government in the state. Already, businessmen and particularly traders and small restaurant owners from the Muslim community are facing discrimination in BJP-ruled states. Indeed, whenever a religious event takes place, Muslim dhabas, hotels, and shops are targeted by fundamentalist Hindu groups. During the Kumbh Mela Muslim traders were not allowed to set up stalls on the route. The most recent instance is the ban at Kanwar yatra where Muslim stalls have been banned. Even in Goa, there have been demands to ban stalls set up by Muslims during Hindu jatras in the state. What Goa, under the rest of the country, need are laws to protect the minority communities, both Catholic and Muslim, against harassment by Hindutva goons.
Goa is one of the few islands of communal harmony in the country. Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims have lived in total harmony for over a hundred years at least. There has not been a single riot in Goa since liberation. This is largely because of the Uniform Civil Code enforced in Goa. The Uniform Civil Code, which is the legacy of the Portuguese colonial regime, bans any discrimination on the basis of community or caste. Infact, Goa is the only state in the country where only civil marriages are legal. The civil marriage which every couple has to register irrespective of religion is unique to Goa. You cannot have a religious marriage, whether it is the sath pheras or a church wedding or a Nikah in Goa, unless you have undergone a civil marriage and registered it with the registrar of marriages. Unless you produce the certificate from the registrar the prohit, priest or maulana will not conduct the religious ceremony. Even if you are a migrant in Goa you cannot get married in the state unless you have a civil marriage under the Uniform Civil Code. The personal laws of various religious group relating not only to marriage but to divorce are not applicable to Goa. The annulment or divorce granted by the church is not recognized by law. Similarly, you do need permission from the Bishop to divorce your husband or wife in Goa. Moreover, members of the Muslim community cannot divorce their wife using the triple talaq. The Uniform Civil Code also guarantees equal distribution of ancestral property among sons and daughters. Unlike the personal laws of Hindus, Catholics and Muslims, where very often only males can inherit property in Goa under the Uniform Civil Code and the property has to be equally divided among all children. The Uniform Civil Code ironically has been welcomed by the BJP, which wants all states to adopt it. Never mind that this is quite contrary to the Hindutva policy of discrimination against Muslims and Christians.
The Muslim population comprised only 14.23% of India’s population. The population of Muslims in the country has increased only marginally from 13.43% to 14.23% over the last two decades. On the other hand, the Christian population, which was 2.34% in 2001, has come down to 2.20% in the last two decades. Together, Christians and Hindus account for less than 20% of the population of India. By no stretch of imagination can the Muslims and Hindus together pose any threat to the majority Hindu population. Particularly in the light of the fact that the Hindutva government is in power at the centre and in many states. It is the minority who needs protection from the militant, aggressive Hindutva lunatics and fanatics.