On Saturday (November 12), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanoongo informed that a case of religious conversion of three children in a children’s home has come to notice in NCPCR’s recent investigation in Madhya Pradesh.
Kanoongo took to Twitter to inform about the incident and wrote, “During an inspection of a child welfare centre in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, a case was found where the operator was changing the names and religion of three children,” he tweeted.
रायसेन,मध्यप्रदेश में शिशुगृह के निरीक्षण में 3 बच्चों के नाम व धर्म बदल कर बालगृह संचालक द्वारा नए नाम व धर्म के दस्तावेज बनवा लेने का मामला मिला है।बच्चों के धर्मपरिवर्तन का मामला गम्भीर है,ज़िला प्रशासन को संचालक हसीन परवेज़ के विरुद्ध प्रकरण दर्ज करने के निर्देश दिए हैं।
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) November 12, 2022
Haseen Parvez, the operator of the centre, changed the religion of the three children to Islam, changed their names to Muslim ones and got their Aadhar cards made. He also claimed himself to be their guardian of the children and put his name on their Aadhaar cards. One of the children was reportedly renamed Shahrukh.
The matter came to light during an inspection of the centre by NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanoongo after receiving an oral complaint. When he talked to the children, they said that their original names were different which have been changed at the centre. After that, Kanoongo ordered a probe and confiscation of records.
According to media reports, the incident occurred in the Gauharganj area. The three siblings who converted to Islam are all minors, aged 4, 6, and 8. The converted minors involved two girls and one boy. These children are said to be from Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district and belong to a Hindu family under the OBC category.
During the lockdown amid the Corona pandemic in the year 2020, all three were separated from their parents in the Mandideep area. They were found roaming around near Bhopal, and they were sent to Raisen Child Welfare Committee by the Bhopal Child Welfare Committee. As the parents of the children could not be located, they were handed over to the Children’s Home in Gauharganj run by Navjeevan Samajik Sanstha. It was decided that they will stay at this centre until their parents can be located.
Taking benefit of the absence of their parents, the Children’s Home operator Haseen Parvez converted them to Islam. He claimed that the person who brought the children to the centre had said that they are Muslims.
An FIR has been filed against the centre’s operator Haseen Parvez. This child centre is a government-funded private entity. Kanoongo stated that the operator will be restricted from operating a similar facility in the future.
In meanwhile, the father of the children has been located, but there is no information of the mother yet.
