The members of Jharkhand Solidarity Forum, Religious Organizations and Civil Society Organizations protests against an advertisement that was published by the Information and Public Relations Department of the Jharkhand government on 11th August,2017, on the front pages of Prabhat Khabar, Hindustan, Dainik, Bhaskar and other newspapers. The forum believes that the advertisement is published with an intention to divide India and it is an attempt to disturb the religious harmony between various communities and Adivasi community by accusing the Christian community of conversions, by using Mahatma Gandhi without understanding the context.
In the press release given out by the members of Jharkhand Solidarity Forum, Religious Organizations and Civil Organizations, it stated that “We are against forcible conversions and we believe that the state government should not indulge in the politics of dividing people using forcible conversions as an excuse.” Further, it remarked that “We believe that religion is a matter of a person’s individual faith and belief and the state should not unnecessarily intervene into that domain and we also believe that all the citizens have the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion according to their conscience as provided by the constitution.”
The members also highlighted that this is the first incident of its kind where a state government is diving people on the basis of religion especially Christians and minorities. They also warned the state government that such attempts will not succeed in the state and will not allow these incidents to stand as a hindrance in obtaining a peaceful and democratic society.
