Will the TN government come out with a legislation banning religious conversions taking note of the serious concern expression expressed by the country’s apexcourt.
On Monday 14th a Bench of Justices M R Shah and HimaKohli said “The issue with respect to the alleged conversion of religion, if it is found to be correct and true, is a very serious issue which may ultimately affect the security of the nation as well as the freedom of religion and conscience of the citizens… Therefore, it is better that the Union government may make their stand clear and file counter on what steps can be taken by Union and/ or others to curb such forced conversion, maybe by force, allurement or fraudulent means,”. It also said “There may be freedom of religion, but no freedom of forced conversion. What steps have been taken by UoI (Union of India)? …Make your stand very clear. What action do you propose to take? Conversion is there under the Constitution, but not forcible conversion”.
Asking the Centre why it had not filed its response to the petition, the Bench said: “Why have you not filed counter? Very dangerous thing. Everyone has freedom to choose religion but not through force or coercion”. The court had, on September 23, sought responses from the Centre and others to the plea. The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate AshiwiniUpadhyay. He said a special law should be enacted against forced conversions or the act should be incorporated as an offence in the Indian Penal Code. He alleged that mass conversions of socially and economically under privileged people, particularly those belonging to the SC and STs. Solicitor General Thushar Mehta for the Centre said “forced conversions were rampant in tribal areas. He said “giving of rice, wheat, clothes etc. etc. can never be a ground for asking a person to change his conscience or bargain on my fundamental right to religion”.
There is no central anti-conversion law. The states that have enacted anti-conversion laws make religious conversion by force or allurement a punishable offence.
The demand for an anti-conversion law has been raised at multiple levels, with political statements regarding a national anti-conversion law also being raised in Parliament. Freedom of Religion Bill was introduced in Parliament in 1979 which sought “official curbs on inter-religious conversion.” These bills were also not passed by Parliament due to a lack of political support.
Interestingly, in 2015, the Union law ministry had given the opinion that a law against forced and fraudulent conversions could not be created at a national level, since law-and-order is a State subject under the Constitution. However, state governments can enact such laws. When Jayalalithaa was CM in 2002 brought an anti-conversion legislation. Rajasthan made a similar law in 2006 and 2008. However, the Tamil Nadu legislation during chief ministership of M Karunanidhi, was repealed in 2006 after protests by Christian minorities.
The BJP ruling Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states have enacted law to stop religious conversions. In Tamil Nadu during 2001.
In Tamil Nadu, hardly day passes without messages in social media and conventional media about the attempts by luring innocents people to convert by visiting their homes. Now with the active steps taken by Hindu Munnani, VHP,BJP, InduMakkalKatchi and others, there is an awareness among the people about the proselytization by Christian and Muslim groups. Muslims take a different way like love jihads while Christian tries to exploit their poverty, illness and other factors. They target people at the lower strata only. Nagercoil, Tuticorin,Kanyakumari are the testimonials for such forced conversions.
There are instances of attempt to convert school kids by distributing bibles, free classes or special classes (actually prayers) , denigrating the importance of Bhagavat Gita and other Hindu relics. A north Indian TV channels exposed how parents with entire family members were forced to convert to Christianity. We have seen how Girls students in Nagercoil, Madurai resisted attempts not to sport vermilion on their face, wearing flowers, and wearing threads on their forearms, rudraksha bead etc. In Coimbatore, a tailoring teacher was transferred for making Bhagwat Gita in poor light and forced the girls to convert. In Thanjavur, a girl student committed suicide allegedly following forced attempts to convert her and her family. The list is exhaustive.
TN BJP Chief Annamalai, after the Coimbatore blast case, told media that Davidson Devasirvatham, who is the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) – Intelligence has close ties with Christian missionaries and is working with an agenda to promote Christianity in the southern districts of the state. He also said that Devasirvatham handpicks officers who will help him fulfill his agenda and puts them in sensitive posts.
During election campaign, cadres of BJP and its poll partners were not allowed to enter Muslim and Christian dominated areas. The Madras HC asked to get NoC from Muslim Jamaat to take out and install VinayagarChathurthiand procession. When cadres wanted to take out tri-colour national flag as part of independence day , police denied permission making one to feel whether they are in Pakistan. In Hyderabad, a Christian family objected to a co tenant celebrating Diwali by lighting lamps in front of her flat. So it is a wakeup call for all the governments before Hindus are persecuted in their own lands. Pathasanchalan was not allowed in minority dominated towns by the court.
Central Joint General Secretary of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Dr. Surendra Jain, while agreeing with the concern of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on illegal conversions, has urged the Central Government to make a central law soon to stop illegal conversions. He said that various incidents that happened across the country and also the commissions formed on this subject say quite loud and clear that illegal conversion is a threat to the fundamental right to religious freedom and national security.
In a Statement, he said that the Judiciary had in many cases earlier also stressed the need for a central law on illegal conversions. It has become clear time and again that conversion done by force, fraud and allurement is illegal, but in the absence of a clear law, the plotters and connivers could not be punished. The VHP, the Sant Fraternity and other leading figures of Bharat have always been on the same page that illegal conversion must be stopped. For this, many great men and organizations have continuously struggled and made sacrifices. The struggle and sacrifice of BhagwanBirsaMunda to protect our tribal brethren from the deceitful prowling X’ian missionaries is unforgettable. Many great men like the Sikh Gurus, Swami Shraddhanand, Swami Laxmananand, et al, sacrificed their lives only to stop illegal horizontal religious conversions. VHP has also passed resolutions on this subject several times. He said, history teaches us the unfortunate lesson that such illegal conversions have already changed the geography of Bharat putting it into geostrategic, geopolitical and geo-cultural disadvantages and still threaten its security, prosperity and territorial integrity. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh were created because of religious conversions. Illegal conversion is also responsible for the plight of Hindus in Kashmir, the North-East, Bengal and many districts of Kerala. Conversion is also the main reason behind the gruesome and barbaric murder of hundreds of girls like Shraddha, Nikita, et al. For this work, many anti-national forces are active in Bharat (India) with the support of foreign powers. Many a time, conversion mafia, Jihadis and Crusaders are also reported to have been caught who convert and use even innocent and handicapped children to serve their purposes. Security agencies have expressed apprehension that these innocent children are also used as human bombs by the conversion mafia. Illegal conversion not only poses a threat to national security and territorial integrity but also to social harmony and co-existence. After independence, all the commissions set up to look into the illegal conversion activities and networks, have expressed a clear opinion that a central law must be made to stop it”.
Dr. Jain reiterated that it is the need of the hour that a pan-Bharat comprehensive central law should be brought forthwith to rid the country of the demography-and-democracy-changing, abnormal, anomalous, invasive, undermining, meddling and anti-Constitutional activities and networks of illegal horizontal religious conversions.
The DMK government should take serious steps to bring out a legislation keeping aside its appeasement politics for the sake of the state.
-T S V
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