Karnataka Assembly Passes Controversial Anti-Conversion Bill Amid Protests

The Karnataka Assembly passed the controversial anti-conversion Bill through a voice vote on Thursday, December 23. According to civil rights groups, the law criminalises the right to choose one’s faith under the false pretext of ‘forced’ conversion. 

Opposition party Congress vehemently opposed the bill, calling it “anti-people”, “inhuman”, “anti-constitutional”, “anti-poor” and “draconian”, and urged that it should not be passed for any reason and should be withdrawn by the government.

The bill was passed by a voice vote, even as Congress members were protesting from the well of the House.

The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, December 21 and discussed on Thursday, December 23. 

The Bill is modelled along the lines of similar laws in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and aims to prohibit “unlawful conversions” from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or by any fraudulent means.

The law has been criticised for harsh penalties for violating the law, which includes a jail term of three to five years and a fine of ₹ 25,000 in the case of people from general categories, and a jail term of three to 10 years and a fine of ₹ 50,000 for those converting minors, women or persons from SC/ST communities.

As per the law, the burden of proof that the conversion is “valid and lawful” has been put on the ‘convertor’, and allows the family of an individual to report the conversion as unlawful.

While the government aims to do away with ‘forced’ conversions, the draft law may undermine an individual’s freedom to practice the religion of their choice. Any relative will be able to file a complaint against the conversion if they are against it. 

The bill also seeks to declare marriages done for the sole purpose of conversion to be null and void.

The BJP during the Assembly discussion said that the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021′ is an extension of the draft proposal prepared by the Congress back in 2016. 

Former Karnataka Minister Siddaramaiah retorted, saying that the draft prepared in 2016 is completely different from the current Bill. 

According to the current law, those who want to convert need to inform the District Magistrate (DM) at least 60 days in advance and the person carrying out the conversion process must give one month’s notice to the District Magistrate or the Additional District Magistrate. The DM then carries out an inquiry through the police to find out the ‘real intention’ of the conversion.

Within 30 days after the conversion is complete, the person who has converted must submit a declaration with personal details like date of birth, address, father’s name, former religion and religion to which the person converted, etc, along with a copy of their Aadhaar card.

The person must then appear before the DM 21 days from the date of the declaration so that the DM can confirm the details mentioned in the declaration. The DM then maintains an official record of the conversion and informs government officials of the backward classes welfare department, minority welfare department, and others, about the conversion.