Fri Jan 5, 2007
Another State in India Passes Anti-Conversion
Bill
A Congress Party state government has passed
an anti-conversion bill in the northern state
of Himachal Pradesh, where only 8,000 of the
more than 6 million people are Christian.
The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill
was passed on Saturday (December 30) during
the four-day winter session of the state assembly.
It remains to be signed into law.
Vijay Kumar, principal secretary of the state
home department, told Compass that under the
bill any person found forcibly converting another
person could be imprisoned for up to two years
and/or fined up to 25,000 rupees (US$565).
Kumar also said that any person wishing to convert
to another religion must give prior notice of
at least 30 days to the district government.
"If he or she fails to do it, the penalty
will be a fine up to 1,000 rupees (US$23),"
he said.
Asked if the government had any official data
on forcible conversions in the state to justify
the bill, Kumar said no such data was available.
"It is not a reactionary measure, but a
proactive one, to infuse confidence among the
people of the state that the government is thoughtful
of the issues," he said.
Dr. John Dayal, secretary general of the All
India Christian Council, termed the move of
the state government a "cruel joke."
"[Congress Party leader] Sonia Gandhi had
written to me expressing her government's and
party's opposition to such laws being passed
by the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] governments,
" he told Compass. "But now, her own
party in Himachal Pradesh has brought about
such a bill."
Dayal, who is also member of the National Integration
Council, said the state chief minister, Vir
Bhadra Singh, was playing into the hands of
Hindu extremists.
"It is no honor to the Congress Party,
and it must disown the bill and have it withdrawn,"
he added.
Ministry as 'Allurement'
Known as "Freedom of Religion" acts,
anti-conversion laws are in force in the states
of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and
Arunachal Pradesh.
Christians point out that anti-conversion laws
allow Hindus to term any social work among people
of other faiths as "allurement, "
and any talk of eternal destiny as a consequence
of sin as "force."
Anti-conversion laws recognize the sacrament
of baptism as conversion and hence require churches
to report all baptisms of non-Christian converts
to government officials.
The opposition BJP, a Hindu nationalist party
that had in September 2006 promised to enact
an anti-conversion law if it came into power
in the state assembly elections in 2008, welcomed
the bill's passage, reported Asia News International
(ANI).
The leader of the opposition, Prem Kumar Dhumal,
told national daily
The Indian Express last September 22, "After
coming to power in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP
would bring legislation against religious conversion
and slaughtering of cows [considered holy by
Hindus], as the present government has completely
failed to protect the rights of the Hindus."
On April 7, 2006 the BJP passed a similar bill
in Rajasthan state. It also passed bills to
amend the existing anti-conversion laws in Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on July 25 and August
3 respectively.
In addition, the party passed a bill to amend
dormant anti-conversion legislation in Gujarat
on September 19 of last year.
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, J. Jayalalithaa,
had announced the repeal of that state's "anti-conversion"
law (the Prohibition of Forcible Conversion
of Religion Act) in May 2004, following the
poor performance of her party in April 2004
general elections.
Posted by: "grimgargantua" grimgargantua@email.com
