People will admit that the ‘Ghar Vapasi’ move initiated by the saffron brigade has gathered sufficient dust and needs no further digging. Nonetheless the statement made by the Deputy Chief Minister of Goa that as long as the people are not coerced or induced into changing their religion, there is nothing wrong in the drive started by some outfits, does not seem to have gelled well with people obsessed with dogmatic beliefs.
In fact we need to be broadminded and not set impediments on the path of a person, wishing to change his religion, irrespective of what creed he upholds. Issues of faith and belief are purely personal and it should be left to the individual to pursue them in the manner that he deems fit. If it is incorrect for a Christian to change his religion it should be likewise for a person of any other faith as well. Why then is there so much of emphasis on drawing others to our faith?
In my view the religious hardliners are now confounded in a maze of their own making! Let the argument be straightforward – Either accept the philosophy of freedom of faith in totality and allow the individual to accept the faith of his will or else be open to the notion of anti-conversion, not permitting a person to change his religion and advocating to stick to his original religion.
Michael Vaz, Merces
