The conversion ceremony. A Telegraph picture

Popra (Malda), April 17: Three years after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad signed off the conversion of six families with a vow to conduct one on a ?grander scale?, it did.

Members of 45 tribal families converted to Hinduism from Christianity today.

The VHP had converted six families, one Muslim and the rest Christians, on August 22, 2002, in Habibpur. As it was then, the administration was clueless about today?s event, held at this village in the Old Malda police station area, 18 km from the district headquarters.

In all, 102 people took part in the ceremony held under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Sanatan Santhal Samaj, an organisation owing allegiance to the VHP.

A similar ceremony was held during Ramnavami in 2000 and 81 families had been converted then. Today, too, was Ramnavami. But unlike the ceremony five years ago, there was little fanfare. Even some front-ranking VHP leaders of the district decided to give the occasion a pass.

Nakulchandra Das, the district president of the VHP, said of the 45 families, five had been taken to court where they swore on an affidavit that they were converting to Hinduism. The group comprised three men, two women and six children. ?These families were from the Old Malda area. The affidavits of the others, who came from far away, will be drawn up later,? Das said. The administration was not informed about the event as the outfit?s brush with officials has ?not been pleasant? in the past.

?The earlier ceremony had to be abandoned half way when the people seeking conversion fled the scene after feeling intimidated by the police. We were not allowed to conduct the yagna either. We were 100 per cent successful today,? he claimed.

Malda superintendent of police S.K. Poojari said: ?No one informed us about the ceremony and there was no complaint lodged.? Subdivisional officer Subrata Sarkar, too, said he was unaware of the development. ?I will make inquiries,? he said.