‘Complete harmony in Bihar’: Nitish Kumar rejects calls for anti-conversion law

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said the government was fully alert and ensured that there was no dispute in the state between communities

PATNA: There was no need for an anti-conversion law in Bihar as there was “complete harmony” and different communities are living in peace, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Wednesday, rejecting an oft-repeated suggestion by some leaders of ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who point to allegations of conversion following enticements by proselytizers.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at the launch of Bihar Textile and Leather Policy 2022 at Adhiveshan Bhawan in Patna on Wednesday (HT Photo/Santosh Kumar)

“There was no need for an anti-conversion law in the state where the government was alert and members of different religious communities lived in peace,” Nitish Kumar told reporters on Wednesday in response to a question on the demand in wake of some reports that Hindus were being allegedly lured to change their faith.

“Bihar government is fully alert on the issue. There is no dispute here between communities. People of different faith are living peacefully. There is no problem for them. We have done our work efficiently. Hence such a move is not required here. Our alertness has ensured that there were no communal tensions in state,” Kumar said.

Some BJP leaders in the state such as Union minister Giriraj Singh, have been stressing on the need for an anti-conversion law on the lines of several states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, etc.

Singh, during the state executive committee meeting in Katihar this month, vociferously pitched for a strong anti-conversion law, stopping the use of the term ‘minorities’ and erasing all “symbols of oppression by foreign invaders” such as the Gyanvapi mosque, a religious structure in Varanasi.

Girirak Singh said there was a need for redefining the term minorities and even doing away with it in the light of the Narendra Modi government’s motto of ‘Sabka saath sabka vikas’

This isn’t the only issue on which leaders of BJP and alliance partner, JD (U), have differed in recent months.

The BJP, which supported conducting a caste-based census in Bihar during the all-party meeting held by the chief minister, has called raised the contentious issue of bringing up the population control law in Bihar. BJP’s minister Neeraj Kumar ‘Babluu’ recently demanded that the government quickly enact the population control law as fast as it moved on the caste census.

The JD (U) was quick to reject the demand. Party’s state president Umesh Kushwaha outrightly rejected the demand, maintaining that Nitish Kumar was stressing the need to educate girls, which will ultimately lead to a control of the population.

The JD (U) has also prevailed upon the BJP in the forthcoming legislative council elections by convincing BJP to forgo its one seat to JD (U). Now both the parties would be contesting on two seats each.