“Father of star Indian cricketer accused of religious conversion”. (Photo: X/Jemimah Rodrigues)
The father of Indian women’s cricket team’s star batsman Jemimah Rodriguez, who is embroiled in controversies, has come forward for the first time on allegations of religious conversion. Jemima’s father, Ivan Rodriguez, has been accused of organizing religious conversion programs at Mumbai’s Khar Gymkhana Cricket Club. On Friday, October 25, Rodríguez completely rejected these accusations, saying that he had only organized prayer meetings and that he was extremely saddened and disappointed by such false accusations. Just a few days ago, a report claimed that several people, including Ivan Rodriguez, had rented the Khar Gymkhana conference hall and were conducting religious conversion programs here.
followed the rules
These accusations were made against Iván Rodríguez by many directors of the club itself, but the president of Khar Gymkhana also considered them wrong. He said officials made such accusations in view of the upcoming elections. Due to these accusations, Jemima’s membership, with the help of which her father had organized these events at the club, was cancelled. Iván Rodríguez issued a statement on his social media account on Friday and offered his own clarification. He said that he has been organizing prayer meetings at Khar Gymkhana since April 2023 and that all this was done keeping in mind and within the club’s procedures and rules.
No religious conversion, only prayer meetings.
Iván Rodríguez also said in his clarification that complete information about all these programs was given to Khar Gymkhana officials. In his statement, Rodríguez also said that these prayer meetings were for everyone and anyone could participate in them, but in no way was there talk of religious conversion, as stated in the media. He also said that as soon as Gymkhana asked him to stop these meetings, he immediately agreed and stopped them. In addition, any difference in the fixed rates for members and guests was also paid immediately.
Jemima didn’t say anything.
Jemima’s father described himself as a law-abiding citizen and said he is happy to have the opportunity to practice his religion without bothering anyone. Despite this, he described the accusations as sad and said that he always wants the well-being of everyone. After this whole incident, star batter Jemima is also called good and bad on social media and many of her old prayer meeting videos are also being shared. However, the Indian batter has maintained silence amidst all this controversy and is only concentrating on her game. On October 24 himself, he participated in the first ODI match played between India and New Zealand.
