The newly elected VHP's international secretary general, Praveen Bhai Togadia, told newsmen here that he, however, welcomed the prime minister's suggestion for a public debate on conversions.

To a question, he said the Dharam Samsad, which would meet in Ahmedabad for three days from Feb 5, would chalk out the programme for mobilising public opinion on a legislation for banning conversions. It would also take an ``appropriate decision'' on the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Reiterating that the VHP and the Bajrang Dal had nothing to do with the attacks on churches in Dangs district in Gujarat, which had snowballed into a major controversy, attracting international attention. He said the trouble might not spread to other areas in the country.``People have been living together for centuries. We have given protection to Parsis and Jews,'' he said and added that the problem in Gujarat was between converted tribals and non-converts. At least 24 temples had been desecrated in the last five years, he alleged.

Togadia, a leading oncologist, said the state governments should prosecute those trying to convert through allurements. Conversion was ``alien and foreign'' to India, he said. Lashing out at the Congress for refusing to agree for a debate on conversions, he said the action was undemocratic. Congress support to conversion by church would endanger the unity and integrity of the country. The church was supporting separatist movements and had ``alienated'' the people, he charged.

He maintained that Christians had become aggressive after Sonia Gandhi took over as the president of the Congress. Till then, the Christian minority was living peacefully, he claimed. When pointed out that the VHP was differing with the Bharatiya Janata Party on the issueof conversions, he said the VHP was a cultural outfit while the BJP was a political party. ``There can be differences between political and cultural units,'' he added.

Claiming that the VHP was not getting any foreign fund, he demanded a detailed investigation into foreign funds and their misappropriation for proselytisation against the law of the land. Conversion through allurements was unconstitutional and illegal, he maintained quoting a Supreme Court order.

He said the VHP would set up schools in tribal villages, which had been allegedly targeted by Christian missionaries. It would organise camps in 14 places for recruiting people to teach in tribal schools and would raise funds through donations, he added. Togadia alleged that the church was targeting 150 towns and cities in India for conversions and crores of rupees were being collected for the purpose.