Mangalore: Conversion Raises its Ugly Head Again …
Special Team
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Puttur / Mangalore, Jul 10: Some lessons in life are learnt only through personal experiences and that is what Lancy Praveen D Souza, who works as a mason helper cum watchman in the city, realized to his utter dismay in the last few months. When 15 year old Karthik one evening approached him seeking help to find a job desperately, the young man responded taking pity for the young boy without realizing that his act of showing sympathy to a fellow in need would put him in dire straits.
Life took a cruel turn for Lancy Praveen ever since and he has been ‘punished’ for his act of kindness as a result of the ploy scripted by those who are bent upon creating distrust and disharmony among different religious faiths. Lancy underwent 7 days in jail and one day in Uppinangadi police station as he has been charged with section 295 (a) for conversion and section 506 for kidnapping of Karthik by the Uppinangadi police. After the recent unsavory incident where Jillu, a juice shop owner was falsely accused of conversion, this is another attempt by some miscreants to create panic and dissonance in Mangalore among diverse religious faiths.
Having undergone this ordeal, Lancy who was released on conditional bail from Mangalore sub-jail on July 7, 2011, is a tad saddened and perplexed by the turn of events of his life for no fault of his. Members of Indian Federation of Karnataka Christian Association (IFKCA) from Udupi and Mangalore and other good Samaritans came to his rescue on having learnt about the incident and played a crucial role in releasing him on bail.
However, Lancy cannot claim respite from the nightmare as he has to report to the Uppinangadi Police station every Sunday and is uncertain as to what awaits him in future. A cursory look at the young and naïve Lancy, who has studies only up to 5th standard and works hard both during day and night, and after talking to him one can deduce that he cannot even think about such a plot of converting Karthik or anyone leave alone carrying out such machinations.
Lancy, who hails from Arva parish in Belthangady Taluk, works as a mason helper during day and as a night watchman in one of the apartments in the city, came across Karthik who told him a sob story that he was in dire need of a job and gained his confidence and implored him to help get a job. Except his name Lancy did not know anything about Karthik, who said he hails from Puttur. But that did not stop Lancy from helping him in finding a job. Karthik even came to his home and stayed with his family in Arva before Lancy could find a job for him. Finally he arranged a job for the boy in a hospital canteen in Badyar, as he knew the canteen people.
Within a few days Lancy got a phone from the canteen saying they had some suspicions about the boy. Karthik even had mobile which he said he had bought from the money he had. Karthik then left the job and again contacted Lancy and came to his home at Arva and stayed there. By using Lancy’s brother’s sim on his mobile without the knowledge of his brother, Karthik called his home people and had told them where he was in Madikeri.
Soon Lancy, who was working in Mangalore, got a call from his parents saying Karthik’s relatives,(his borther-in-law and uncle) had come searching for him at their house. It was then revealed by these relatives that Karthik who was studying in 9th std had come absconding from home after stealing huge amount of cash from ATM of his uncle. When his relatives insisted that he come back home Karthik told that he would come back only if Lancy Praveen comes with him. Lancy, who did not suspect Karthik despite new revelations, agreed and his naiveté landed him in Uppinangadi Police station.
He was shocked when police asked him why he was Keeping Karthik at his home but even then he did not realize the severity of the trouble he was in. One police officer who was in mufti even beat him with a stick and they took his signature for an undertaking and also took Rs. 300/- from him saying “we are trying to save you from further trouble.
Otherwise these people would have smashed you into pieces for trying to convert Karthik”. Lancy and his family had a shock of their lives when they read in the papers the next day that he was arrested on charges for forcible conversion.
This incident occurred in November 2010 and in between Karthik kept calling Lancy from various landlines despite his advice not to contact him. Despite the unpleasant experience Lancy says “I had a soft corner for Karthik because he kept telling me I have difficulty at home. My home people are torturing me and I want to work and wanted my help”. Once again when Karthik insisted he wanted to meet and talk to him, Lancy met him near Kanchan school in Uppinangady last Friday, 30th June, 2011 and when he requested money he gave him Rs. 50/- and came to bus stand to come back to Mangalore. However, soon a crowd had gathered near the bus stand which started abusing him and Lancy who really got scared boarded a bus back to Mangalore.
The next day, he got a call from his parents saying two police had come searching for Lancy in a jeep and took his younger brother Melvyn who was at home, to the police station as Lancy was in Mangalore. When Lancy arrived at the station he found Karthik and his uncle and other relatives and some members of an organization (known for its communal intonations) who tried to intimidate him.
The police told him that he was trying to create trouble despite giving a written undertaking to the police just a few months back. The police then stripped him of the rosary and sacred threads he was wearing and locked him up in the police station. The next day, which was a Saturday, he was brought to Mangalore sub jail and police demanded Rs. 1000/- from his family as transportation cost to bring him to Mangalore. Strange but true!
Lancy even says when he was brought to Mangalore one of the complainants, said to be an uncle of Karthik, one Ramesh, who works in Dharmasthala, threatened him with dire consequences once he comes out of the jail on bail. Having spent 6 days in Mangalore sub-jail Lancy was released yesterday (7-7-2011) on conditional bail. Having learnt about the incident members of IFKCA swung into action and succeeded in getting him released on bail.
Though Lancy’s mother informed the Arva Parish priest and parish council members, none of them has come forward to his rescue, which has saddened the family considerably. Prashanth Jathanna, VP of IFKCA, Udupi, Peter Danthy, member IFKCA, Gladson Karkada, Praveen Kumar, Hemanth, Alwyn, Sunil, Dennis D Silva, state convener of IFKCA, Roshan Castelino, Alwyn D Souza, John D Souza and Vinod Lasrado have been instrumental in coming to the rescue of Lancy and his family which has no one else to look up to for help in the hour of their crisis.
Lancy’s father Anthony D Souza who had come to the jail to take his son back is befogged by the turn of events and is visibly upset by the false complaint and the difficulty that befell on his family. “My son just took pity on this young boy and tried to help him without knowing the consequences of his action and now we are suffering this humiliation”, he says.
The entire episode has all the necessary ingredients required to inflame communal frenzy among people. It is nothing but a crude and uncanny effort by Karthik’s family, relatives and their cronies to hide the ignominy of Karthik running away from home. It looks as though, to hide this mortification they have scripted a plot of conversion and kidnapping, and innocent bakras like Lancy have fallen easy prey to their mischief. It was nothing but an attempt to obscure Karthik’s misdemeanor, as running away from home by stealing money is a disgrace for the family.
The sad part is that the ghost of conversion has come in handy for communal and fundamentalist forces to enkindle communal frenzy and show their true colour while trying to masquerade the skeletons in their cupboards. One wonders how many more Lancy’s will become the sacrificial goats in the altar of the alleged conversion plots.
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