Eight people, including two clerics, who were arrested in June this year for alleged large-scale religious conversions have been charged with sections that invoke "waging war against India."
According to The Indian Express, a Lucknow court accepted the application of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that has charged the eight individuals with IPC Section 121-A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121) and 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war).
The Case
The Uttar Pradesh ATS had on 21 June arrested Mohammad Umar Gautam and Mufti Kazi Jahangir Alam, two clerics from Delhi, for allegedly large scale religious conversions by allurement and inducements via foreign/ISI fundings.
The ATS subsequently arrested more people, who they said conducted "forceful conversions" under the banner Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC). The accused allegedly carried out a "racket" to convert over a dozen students from a school for the speech and hearing impaired in Noida.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath had directed the ATS to detain the ones involved under the National Security Act (NSA).
An FIR was filed by the Lucknow police under the state’s anti-conversion law.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)