Karnataka Legislative Council Passes 'Anti-Conversion Bill,' Opposition Stages Walkout

The upper house, Karnataka Legislative Council, passed the controversial anti-conversion bill on Thursday (September 15), despite strong opposition from HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular and Congress. The opposition claimed that the law would infringe on the freedom of religion granted to the people of India by the Constitution.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government countered the opposition by mentioning that the law would only secure and protect the people of Karnataka from forcible conversion, which has become frequent in the state.

The leader of opposition in the legislative council of Karnataka, BK Hariprasad, said, "It is an unconstitutional bill and is against Articles 25, 26, 15 and 29 of the Constitution. The government says it is not against any community. But most members who spoke from the treasury bench were spitting venom against the minority community," reported NDTV.

The Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, popularly termed the anti-conversion bill, was passed by the state's Legislative Assembly during the December 2021 session. After being passed in the Legislative Assembly, the bill was not brought before the council as BJP led government failed to meet the majority figure.

Later, the government passed a public ordinance to halt forcible conversion in the state. Now, the bill was tabled and approved as the BJP has a majority in the Legislative Council after the recent MLC elections.

Know The Anti-Conversion Bill

The bill introduced by Home Minister Araga Jnanendra in the Legislative Council of Karnataka on Thursday prohibits any unlawful religious conversion, defined as conversion through force, undue influence, misrepresentation, or coercion. The offenders will get a punishment of imprisonment for three to five years and be fined Rs 25,000. If any unlawful religious conversion attempt is noted in the case of a minor, the imprisonment will extend up to ten years, and the offender will be fined Rs 50,000.

After Uttar Pradesh passed the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance in 2020, the rush to give the same in most BJP-ruled states can be seen. Similar laws are passed in several states, including Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court against the anti-conversion bill, but no hearing has been done yet.

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