Threats and Responses-Conversions in Tamil Nadu

Threats and Responses Conversions in Tamil Nadu Imtiaz Ahmad THE question of the conversion of the Scheduled Castes to Islam has been engaging public attention for well over a year. Unfortunately, despite all the publicity that it got and all the discussion that it generated in the national press, the question has not received the kind of serious treatment that it would seem to deserve. On the contrary, the more common tendency has been to press certain popular beliefs as explanations without attempting to formulate logically consistent propositions that would account for the phenomenon. Given its rather sensitive nature in the context of the past memories of the Hindu and Muslim communities, or at least their elite sections, and the recent political history of the country, there would appear to be a strong ease for a serious treatment of the subject.