The influential Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) has written to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena seeking a thorough investigation into alleged attempts to convert individuals and families belonging to the Buddhist community to Christianity in Ladakh.<\/p>\n
In a letter addressed to the Lieutenant Governor, LBA president Chering Dorjay Lakrook said it had been brought to the association’s notice by Ladakh Police authorities that an unregistered office was allegedly operating from a rented house in Skampari, Leh, where around 20 Buddhist youths had reportedly been engaged on a monthly honorarium to translate the Bible from English into Aryan, Changthangi, Zanskari and other local languages, reportedly using Roman script.<\/p>\n
Lakrook alleged that the activity was detected by the youth wing of the Ladakh Buddhist Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis type of illegal attempt through various means of inducement by organised Christian missionaries, with possible funding from abroad channelled through Indian citizens from other parts of the country, is not new to Ladakh,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He further alleged that in the past, poor and vulnerable families had been targeted and their children taken to Srinagar on the pretext of providing education. \u201cThe children were brought back with the intervention of the then J&K government as the issue had created a serious law and order situation in Leh. Similar attempts were made on several occasions in the past, each leading to tensions in Ladakh,\u201d Lakrook claimed.<\/p>\n
Referring to the latest case, the LBA president alleged that when members of the association’s youth wing questioned the source of the honorarium, some of the youths engaged in the translation work reportedly said the money was being transferred by an individual from Andhra Pradesh.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also know for sure that a few local Christian individuals are involved in this conspiracy,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n
Lakrook urged the administration to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter, identify any larger conspiracy, and take action against those responsible in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cLadakh is not an isolated case. Such activities by organised Christian missionary groups are reportedly common in tribal belts and among economically weaker sections in other parts of the country as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Stating that the Ladakh Buddhist Association would not tolerate any attempt to alter the region’s demographic composition, Lakrook said the issue also had implications from a national security perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope the Ladakh administration will take all necessary action against those involved, including any local individuals, to prevent such activities in the interest of communal harmony and national security,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n
The letter comes a day after Leh Police said it had apprehended eight individuals suspected of involvement in organised religious conversion-related activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accused persons are alleged to have been engaged in recruiting local youth for conversion-related activities in the regions of Zanskar, Changthang and Aryan Valley,\u201d Leh Police said in a statement.<\/p>\n
According to the police, preliminary investigations revealed that the group had rented a residential premises in Skampari, Leh, where offices had allegedly been established for the translation and dissemination of religious material.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe premises are also suspected to have been used for activities connected with religious conversions,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Police added that a comprehensive investigation had been launched to ascertain the extent of the group’s operations across Ladakh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe inquiry is also examining possible financial links, including suspected foreign funding and related transactions, if any. Several laptops, digital devices and other relevant materials have been seized for investigation,\u201d police said, adding that further investigation is underway and appropriate legal action will be taken based on the evidence collected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The influential Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) has written to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena seeking a thorough investigation into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[32523,32524,32525,32526,32527,32528,32529,12624,315,314,32530,32531],"class_list":["post-57461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lg","tag-buddhistcommunity","tag-christianmissionaries","tag-foreignfunding","tag-ladakhbuddhistassociation","tag-communalharmony","tag-ladakhnews","tag-ladakhpolice","tag-leh","tag-lg","tag-lg-group","tag-nationalsecurity","tag-religiousconversion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}