Kanpur June 25 (IANS) A meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad here Wednesday adopted a resolution demanding religious conversion to be treated as a “heinous crime.” The weeklong closed-door meeting of the VHP’s executive council began at Jai Narain Vidya Mandir school under the chairmanship of its international president Ashok Singhal.

VHP leader Mohan Singh told IANS the resolution stated that there were “5,000 foreign priests into religious conversion in India” and they stayed on tourist and business visas. “They should be asked to leave the country,” he said.

Earlier, when asked if the VHP meet was preparatory to the election campaign by Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani, Ashok Singhal said: “We have nothing to do with elections.”

Singhal said constructing a Ram Temple at Ayodhya remained their priority and that it was “a cultural liberation struggle of Hindus.”