Christian organisations may move court against Anti-Conversion Bill in Karnataka

Most of the Christian organisations in Karnataka have expressed their opposition to the Anti-Conversion bill, stating these laws target minorities and that it is an unconstitutional bill. According to the draft bill, “conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage’’ is prohibited.

New Delhi: The anti-conversion bill that was brought in the Karnataka Vidhansabha today has created a stir among the community leaders. Speaking to ETV Bharat many leaders termed the bill unconstitutional and said they will go to court if the bill is passed.

A.C. Michael, former member of Delhi Minorities Commission, national coordinator of United Christan Forum (UCF) and Minority Affairs of All India Catholic Union (AICU), expressed his complete displeasure over this bill and said "We totally reject this bill and if it is being approved by the state assembly, we'll take this up to the court as this bill targets minorities and is completely unconstitutional".

According to the draft bill, “conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage’’ is prohibited.

“No person shall convert or attempt to convert either directly or otherwise any other person from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage, nor shall any person abet or conspire for conversions.”

The draft bill also highlights that any person intending to convert to another religion after the law comes into force will have to give a notice two months in advance of the conversion to the district magistrate, and with that, the person who is carrying out the conversion also has to give a notice one month in advance, and the district magistrate must conduct an inquiry through the police on the real purpose of the conversion.

Reacting to this, Michael asked, "How can the DM be involved in this matter. It is the right of any other individual if he/she intends to change his religion and by bringing such kinds of propaganda, the government is plunging the social harmony into chaos and this act stands in complete contrast to our constitution which allows us to preach or practice any religion."

As per the reports prepared by the UCF, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), and United Against Hate, it states that Karnataka ranks third among the states with the most number of attacks on the community and their places of worship in India.

VHP announces 11-day campaign

In what could trigger an assault on the social harmony, peace, and the celebrated co-existence of all communities in India, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Monday announced that it will launch an 11-day campaign urging for the enactment of "a stringent" law against "unlawful" religious conversions and legal provisions to ensure that the tribals converting to Islam and Christianity do not get the reservation benefits and other facilities enshrined to then under the Constitution.

Belagavi Bishop Derek Fernandes stressed that this could potentially disturb the social harmony in India and emphasises that if there's any such case of forced conversion of someone into Christianity through allurement and manipulation, "the government, in that case, is free to take any such legal actions but underscores that there are no such cases of forced conversions or conversions through allurement in Karnataka".

He also added that there are already pre-existing mechanisms to deal with any such cases and to bring about a new law that directly targets the minority is a complete neglect of constitutional rights proffered to all citizens.

The political climate in Karnataka has been witnessing an extreme downfall since the reports of attacks against Christians intensified, and after the Karnataka Cabinet approved the anti-conversion bill yesterday, which proposes a maximum punishment of 10 years of imprisonment for forcible conversion of persons from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe communities, minors, and women, to another religion, since then, the debate around forced conversions has rather accelerated which for now has turned into a political angle.

In this context, it seems that the matter is unlikely to be resolved in a shorter span of time and the political climate, which now has been intensified by the unison voices of opposition parties in Karnataka and the civil society members who alleges that this law if comes into forces would manifest a black mark on the state, as Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar said on Tuesday.