Anti-conversion Bill: Speaker denies Congress charge

Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Friday denied allegations that the controversial Anti-conversion Bill was introduced in a hush-rush manner.

Responding to a question on why the Bill was not mentioned in the agenda circulated the day before its introduction in the Assembly, Kageri said that the Bill copy was not ready by then. "I cannot anticipate that a Bill will be introduced and put it on the agenda," he said.

After the Bill was printed the next morning (Tuesday), a supplementary agenda was circulated among legislators. "There is a provision to introduce a supplementary agenda. As soon as there was a quorum, once the Assembly resumed at noon, the Bill was tabled," he said.

Also Read | Faith, history & nationhood: The many facets of anti-conversion Bill debate

Kageri said that he informed the Opposition whips about the introduction of the Bill post noon on Tuesday. "Opposition legislators entered the Assembly hall late and blamed me of tabling the Bill in a hushed manner," he said.

The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill was passed on a voice vote in the Assembly amid protests on Thursday.

During the debate, Siddaramaiah said the Bill is unnecessary as the IPC has provisions to punish forced religious conversion. He also attacked the Bill for placing the burden of proof on the accused and cited Census data to show that the Hindu population had not decreased as it was being propagated.

Also Read | Let select committee deliberate on anti-conversion Bill: A H Vishwanath

On penalising "conversion by marriage", Siddaramaiah said any adult is free to marry a person of one's choice. This provision, which is also present in Gujarat's anti-conversion law, remains challenged in the Gujarat High Court, he pointed out.

Terming the law "draconian and unconstitutional", Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of raking up emotional matters issues to divert attention from relevant issues.

73% attendance

Kageri said the winter Assembly session had an average of 73% attendance and only eight of the 225 members were absent with permission.

Read | Siddaramaiah counters BJP on anti-conversion Bill

During the 10-day session, the Assembly cleared 10 Bills and also passed a censure motion against the burning of the Kannada flag and defacement of Sangolli Rayanna and Shivaji statues.

As many as 2,426 questions were received from MLAs. The flood relief debate lasted for over eight hours whereas north Karnataka was discussed for over five hours.

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