Ivan Rodrigues, the father of Indian cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues, has denied using the facilities at Mumbai club Khar Gymkhana to conduct religious conversions.
On Sunday, the Khar Gymkhana management cancelled an honorary three-year membership given to Jemimah Rodrigues after some members reportedly objected to Ivan Rodrigues using the gymkhana premises for “religious activities” and alleged that he was organising events to “convert” the “vulnerable”.
In a statement posted on Instagram on Friday night, Ivan Rodrigues wrote: “We had availed of the facilities at the Khar Gymkhana for the purpose of prayer meetings on multiple occasions over a period of a year since April 2023. However, this was done in complete accordance with the procedures that Khar Gymkhana has in place and in full knowledge of the office bearers.
“The prayer meetings were open to all and were in no way ‘conversion meetings’ as is wrongly labelled in articles in the media. When we were told to stop conducting the prayer meetings, we respected the stance of the Gymkhana and did so with immediate effect.”
Rodrigues said: “We are honest, law-abiding people who are grateful that we can practise our faith without it being a cause of inconvenience to anyone else. To then be the subject of false claims and misinformation is disheartening. We have and continue to wish only the best for everyone.”
The decision to revoke Jemimah’s membership was made unanimously during the club management’s annual general meeting on Sunday.
“We came to know that Jemimah Rodrigues’ father was attached to an organisation called Brother Manuel Ministries,” The Indian Express quoted Khar Gymkhana managing committee member Shiv Malhotra as saying.
He claimed that the organisation had booked the presidential hall at the gymkhana for over a year and held 35 events. “We all know what was happening there,” Malhotra said.
Malhotra alleged: “We hear about conversions all over the country, but it’s happening right under our nose. There was dancing, expensive music equipment, big screens. As per Khar Gymkhana’s bye-laws, Rule 4A of the constitution, Khar Gymkhana does not permit any religious activity.”
Soon after, Hindutva group Bajrang Dal warned the management of the Millennium Club in the city’s Juhu area against allowing evangelical activities on weekends, alleging that religious conversions were taking place on the club premises.
At the Millennium Club, members of a Protestant Christian denomination have been conducting prayers inside a hall on Sundays for more than a year.
Siddharth Khosa, son of former Congress MLA Baldev Khosa, who participated in the prayer meetings, refuted the Hindutva group's claims.
“There was a small misunderstanding,” he said. “Somebody has misinformed that conversion activities are conducted during prayer meets.”
However, the Bajrang Dal, citing the incident at the Khar Gymkhana, threatened to organise protests at the club and said that the management would be responsible for any disruptions to law and order.
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