Haryana: The northern state of Haryana became the 11th Indian state to consider enacting a law against religious conversions amid protests by opposition members who called it “divisive politics.”
The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government introduced the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Bill, 2022, in the legislative assembly on March 4.
Raghuvir Singh Kadian, a legislator from the opposition Congress party, tore its copy as a mark of protest and was suspended from the assembly.
If the bill is passed by the legislature, Haryana will follow in the footsteps of the BJP-ruled Karnataka in the south in adopting what is often referred to as the “freedom of religion” statute in the country.
Nine other states — Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand — have previously enacted their own anti-conversion laws, which have been challenged in courts at many places.
The BJP government in Haryana said the bill was intended “to prevent religious conversions through force, undue influence or allurement.”
The bill looks politically motivated because we all know that our constitution provides us the freedom to choose any religion according to our free will
Imprisonment of 1-5 years and a fine of not less than 100,000 rupees (US$1,300) are proposed in the bill as punishment for such religious conversions. It further provides for declaring marriages, which were done solely for the purpose of conversion from one religion to another religion, as null and void.
According to the new bill, if religion is concealed with an intention to marry, then the person shall be punished with imprisonment of 3-10 years and shall also be liable to pay a fine not be less than 300,000 rupees.
The ruling party and its coalition partners in the state have a collective strength of 50 members in the 90-member assembly and so the bill is expected to have a smooth passage.
“The bill looks politically motivated because we all know that our constitution provides us the freedom to choose any religion according to our free will. It is our fundamental right,” Father Savarimuthu Sankar, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Delhi, told UCA News.
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Father Sankar said the anti-conversion laws were enacted in mostly BJP-ruled states to target Christians and Muslims. “But to date, no religious conversion accusation has been proved in a court of law,” he added.
As far as the Catholic Church was concerned, it did not believe in or promote forced conversions. “Religion is a personal choice and people should not bring politics into it. If there is forced conversion, let the law of the land take appropriate action,” the priest added.
Mohammad Salim Engineer, secretary-general of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said “there was no doubt that the latest bill too is just to serve a political agenda.”
“The state government is trying to retain power by impressing upon majority Hindus that their faith and traditions will be endangered if the BJP loses power,” he said.
“The government is trying to divide people in the name of religion, caste and creed to remain in power and this bill will help them as they can misuse this bill to harass the minorities group.”
If a person wants to change religion at will, then there will be sufficient provision to do so in the proposed law
The Haryana bill was introduced by state Home Minister Anil Vij, who was at the forefront of agitations against so-called “love jihad” since November 2020, alleging that Muslim men were targeting women from non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.
Vij told the legislative assembly that the “bill will prevent any religious conversion by force, inducement, bluff of marriage or by any other unethical methods” and will provide for “strict action against the culprits.”
But Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar clarified there was no mention of any religion in the bill, which was “not designed to discriminate against any religion and only deals with forcible conversions.”
If a person wants to change religion at will, then there will be sufficient provision to do so in the proposed law, he added. Ucanews.com
