The Madras High Court has reportedly accepted the conversion ceremony of a Christian woman to Hinduism, conducted by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and given her the go ahead to for her to join the job of a a junior graduate teacher under the Scheduled Caste category.
In the process, Justice R Suresh Kumar, heaped lavish praise on the radical Hindu organisation whose president had asked cow vigilantes—responsible for several lynching deaths in the country—to be fearless.
The Times of India quoted Kumar as saying, "The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, one of the reputed and internationally acclaimed organisations for Hindu religion, which is constantly and steadfastly propagating the greatness and richness of Hinduism and Hindu rites and customs in this country, had performed the necessary pooja called Shuddhi Satangu on November 1, 1998. The name of the petitioner, which was originally Daisy Flora, has been changed into A Megalai. On completion of the pooja by pandits of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, it has been declared that she had converted from Christianity to Hinduism."
The report added that Megalai was married to a Hindu man. The woman was reportedly denied a position by the Teachers Recruitment Board on grounds that just marrying a Hindu does not suffice for obtaining a job under the Scheduled Caste category, but was given the position on an interim order.
She moved the high court in 2004.
The New Indian Express reported that while Additional Advocate-General Nirmala Sampath told the court that Megalai could not claim the status of a Hindu just by mere conversion and needed to be accepted by the community for all purposes, Kumar said that the court would accept it since VHP was a reputed organisation with units through the country.