The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday, 15 June, decided to repeal the anti-conversion law brought in by the previous BJP government.
Karnataka government to repeal anti-conversion law (Siddaramiah/ Twitter)
Condemning the Karnataka Cabinet’s decision to repeal the amendments to the anti-conversion law brought in by the previous BJP government, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called for a protest at all district centres across the state on Friday, 16 June.
It has said that the protest will be peaceful and would be within the ambit of the law.
The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to repeal the amendments to the anti-conversion law brought in by the previous BJP government. The government will introduce a Bill in this regard in the upcoming legislature session, which starts on 3 July.
“India is a Hindu country where the Constitution allows people of all religions to coexist with Hindus. Similarly, even in Karnataka, people of other religions are allowed to practice their religion along with Hindus. We accept this and do not question it. But we condemn forceful conversion of Hindus by luring or scaring them,” VHP-Karnataka working president Prof MB Puranik said in a statement.
He said India is a Hindu nation, and Karnataka is a part of India. It is the duty of every Hindu to protect the Hindus here from conversion and protect the religion.
Apart from people of other religions, a large number of Hindus have voted for Congress, and that party came to power because of their votes, not just from minorities. “This (decision) is like Congress betraying the entire Hindu society that voted for it,” Puranik said.
“The Hindus of Karnataka have condemned it and are demanding that the Cabinet withdraw its decision immediately,” he added.
Also condemning the Cabinet’s decision to remove chapters on patriots like Savarkar from the school textbooks calling it “narrow-mindedness” and an “act of appeasing the minorities”, the VHP said, “We request the government to stop taking such decisions that disturb peace in the society and give good governance.”
The Karnataka Cabinet approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks of Classes 6 to 10 in the state for the ongoing 2023-24 academic year.
It decided to remove the chapters on RSS founder KB Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, among others.
It also consented to add chapters on social reformer and educator Savitribai Phule, Nehru’s letters to Indira Gandhi, and the poetry on Ambedkar.
“The Cabinet discussed the anti-conversion Bill. We have approved the Bill to repeal the changes brought in by them (the BJP government) in 2022. It will be tabled during the session starting from 3 July,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
The Bill was first tabled in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in December 2021. While the BJP ensured the Bill’s passage in the Legislative Assembly with a voice vote amid protests by Congress and the JD(S), the Bill did not go through in the Upper House.
In May last year, the Karnataka Cabinet converted the Bill into an ordinance to bring a law penalising alleged religious conversions. The Bill was tabled in the Legislative Council on 15 September 2022.
The Bill was passed on 15 September 2022, with minor amendments five days after the Upper House — the Legislative Council — passed it.
After getting assent from the Governor, the Bill was enacted on 30 September 2022.
Among the contentious points introduced in the law — formally called the Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Act — were that interfaith marriages involving religious conversion would be null and void.
Free education, the promise of marriage, and jobs would be deemed “allurement” for religious conversion.
Most worryingly, any person — not necessarily family or friend — could make allegations of “unlawful” religious conversions and land others in jail.
The Act proposed imprisonment from three to five years with a fine of ₹25,000, while for violation of provisions with respect to minors, women, SC/ST, the offenders would face imprisonment from three to 10 years and a fine of not less than ₹50,000.
The Act also had provisions for the accused to pay up to ₹5 lakh as compensation to those who were made to convert, and with regards to cases of mass conversion, there would be a 3- to 10-year jail term and a fine of up to ₹1 lakh.
It also stated that any marriage that happened for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa by the man of one religion with the woman of another, either by converting himself before or after marriage or by converting the woman before or after marriage, would be declared null and void by the family court.
The offence under the Act was non-bailable and cognisable.
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