Ramban Philipose, manager of Jyothis Ashram of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Rajasthan, recalls how an intervention from former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy saved them from a false allegation of “conversion.”
“On a fake complaint of proselytising, some officials came to the ashram in February 2019. They gave a notice to seal the ashram within a few hours. They sealed the monastery after moving out all the inmates. The hapless inmates tried to convince the authorities that the complaint was fake. But it was all in vain. They were adamant,” the Ramban recalls.
People who could have intervened hesitated to support, perhaps wondering how to deal with the charge of “conversion”. Those were days of great disappointment. Many social media platforms started spreading the false news of religious conversion, he adds.
