Anti-conversion bill: Regressive legislation

Move to appease Hindutva hardliners and vigilante

The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, which was tabled in the state legislature on Tuesday, runs contrary to Articles 25-28 of the Constitution, which guarantee the freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. Ironically, the government has invoked these very provisions to introduce the bill, taking shelter under Clause 1 of Article 25 which states that this freedom shall be subject to public order, morality and health. The government has also referred to the Supreme Court order in Rev Stanislaus v/s State of Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, which held that the ‘right to propagate’ does not include the right to convert another person. While this is true, there is no bar on voluntary conversion, on which Karnataka seeks to place impediments through this legislation, which has come to be known as the anti-conversion bill. The Statement of Objects of the bill claims that in recent years the state has noticed many instances of conversion by “allurement, coercion, force, fraudulent means and mass conversion” which are claimed to have caused disturbance to public order. However, the government has failed to bolster its claim with facts and figures.

In fact, when BJP MLA Goolihatti Shekar complained on the floor of the House during the previous session that hundreds of people, including his own mother, were forcibly converted to Christianity in Hosadurga constituency, the government ordered a survey by the local tahsildar. The report said that there were no cases of conversion by coercion or inducement. If the anti-conversion bill becomes law, people will no longer be able to “freely profess and practice” any religion of their choice, as anyone intending to convert will have to give a notice of one month to the district magistrate, who will then get an inquiry conducted by the police to ascertain the real intention of conversion. The punishment for contravention of any of the provisions ranges from an imprisonment of three to 10 years and a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh.

While conversion through coercion or fraudulent means is undesirable and should no doubt be curbed, a bare reading of the bill indicates that the real intention is to appease vigilante groups and the ruling party’s hardline Hindutva base. It is also seen as a move by an increasingly politically vulnerable Chief Minister Bommai to strengthen his position by pandering to party hardliners. Whatever be the reason, the bill is a regressive piece of legislation and a blot on the image of a progressive state like Karnataka where all communities have generally coexisted in harmony.