BENGALURU: The Karnataka legislative assembly enacted a controversial anti-conversion bill on Thursday amid a cacophony of protests and a day-long discussion by opposition parties.
The bill aims to prevent unregistered religious conversions.
Even though Congress MPs protested from the House well, requesting additional time for debate on the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 was passed by voice vote.
While Law Minister JC Madhuswamy told the Assembly that the Bill is an upgraded version of the one produced by the Law Commission and approved Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly had even signed the document certifying the draft's placement in the Cabinet.
Basavaraj Bommai, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, questioned Siddaramaiah about the Congress's response to an RSS petition. "Why didn't you stop the writing process if it was an RSS requirement Since the RSS is open about its opposition to religious conversion?" You wanted to go ahead since the then-Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, had passed the bill in 2016," he explained.
When Congress MLAs were in the Well of the House, the Bill was passed by a voice note. The JD(S) opposed the Bill as well, although none of its MLAs were in the Well.
Siddaramaiah had previously stated that the Bill is superfluous because the IPC already contains provisions for punishing forced religious conversion. He further chastised the Bill for putting the burden of proof on the defendant. He went on to say that census statistics showed that the Hindu population had not diminished as the religion spread.
Siddaramaiah called the bill "draconian and unconstitutional," accusing the BJP of inventing emotional issues to draw attention away from pressing issues.
Amid the debate, the Karnataka assembly passed the anti-conversion bill.
For 'forced' conversion, the bill recommends a sentence of 3 to 5 years in prison and a fine of Rs 25,000. Converting a youngster, a woman, or a member of the SC/ST community will result in a three-to-ten-year prison sentence and a fine of Rs 50,000. Mass conversion carries a sentence of 3-10 years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
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