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Anti-conversion bill gets Haryana cabinet nod, to be tabled in assembly
As per the statement of objects and reasons of the proposed legislation, there have been umpteen cases of religious conversions, both mass and individual.
The Haryana cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft for the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022.The draft Bill which will be tabled in the state assembly during the coming Vidhan Sabha session seeks to prohibit religious conversions effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, marriage or by any other fraudulent means making it an offence.
The proposed legislation which state home minister, Anil Vij, says is a law against ‘Love jihad’ is primarily aimed at stopping forced religious conversions. ‘Love jihad’ is a term used by right-wing activists to describe marital relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, though the courts and the Union government do not officially recognise the term.
As per the statement of objects and reasons of the proposed legislation, there have been umpteen cases of religious conversions, both mass and individual.
“There have been instances when gullible people have been converted by offering allurement or under undue influence. Some have been forced to convert to other religions.There is a presence of pseudo-social organisations with a hidden agenda to convert the vulnerable sections of other religions. In recent past, several instances came to the notice where with an agenda to increase strength of their own religion, people marry persons of other religion by either misrepresentation or concealment of their own religion and after getting married they force the other person to convert,’’ the draft read.
It further said that the Supreme Court has also taken judicial notice of such instances. Such incidents not only infringe the freedom of religion of the persons so converted but also militate against the secular fabric of our society, it said.
An official government spokesperson said, “The right to freedom of religion is guaranteed under Articles 255, 26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution. The objective of this right is to sustain the principle of secularism. The Constitution confers on each individual the fundamental right to profess, practice and propagate his religion. However, the individual right to freedom of conscience and religion cannot be extended to construe a collective right to proselytize; for the right to religious freedom belongs equally to the person converting and the individual sought to be converted.”
This Bill, therefore, seeks to prevent religious conversions and provide greater punishment for such conversions in case of minors, women, scheduled castes and tribes, said the official.
The draft Bill provides that the burden of proof lies on the accused carrying out the conversion.
The spokesperson said that every individual converting from one religion to another will submit a declaration that the conversion did not take place due to misrepresentation, use of force, under threat, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage.
