Lavanya’s death on January 19, 2022 ignited a communal campaign, with the right-wing ecosystem amplifying claims of ‘rampant coerced conversions’. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) led protests accusing the DMK government of permitting ‘forced conversions’ in Tamil Nadu’s schools, which dominated national headlines for weeks. Two years later, a CBI investigation concluded that the student’s death was caused by harassment from her hostel warden, not pressure to convert. The probe also revealed that a local VHP leader exploited the child on her deathbed to further a Hindutva narrative. The CBI says in its chargesheet, that TNM has accessed, that Lavanya’s parents were under the influence of a VHP leader and some BJP leaders of Thanjavur.

@dhanyarajendran in conversation with @Ahmedshabbir20 & @mondalsudipto.

Read the story here: https://www.thenewsminute.com/tamil-n...

#annamalai