By IANS
Raipur : Chhattisgarh Governor S.S.L. Narasimhan has withheld assent to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s much publicised anti-conversion bill passed last year with the aim of banning religious conversions either by force or allurement.
“The governor has objected to at least two provisions of the legislation, including one that asks a person who wants to convert to get written approval for a change of faith 30 days in advance from the district magistrate,” said official sources.
He has also expressed reservations over the clause stating that those who were converted by force but reverted to their original religion would not be categorised as cases of “forceful conversions” and would be exempted from any punishment, the source added.
In August 2006, the BJP-dominated state assembly had passed the legislation that provides a three-year jail term and penalty up to Rs.20,000 or both for those found guilty of forced religious conversions.
The proposed law, Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom (Amendment) Act, 2006, makes it mandatory for a person who wants to convert to get approval for a change of faith 30 days in advance from district magistrate. The district magistrate will have the authority to reject or accept the application after studying the case.
The legislation is basically an amendment to the Freedom of Religion Act, 1968, retained by Chhattisgarh when it was carved out from Madhya Pradesh in November 2000.
The main opposition Congress and several Christian associations and missionaries, who have strong presence in the state’s vast rural and inaccessible belts in the social and education sectors, have been lobbying against the legislation.
Christian bodies oppose the amendment bill saying that it violates fundamental rights guaranteed in the Indian constitution that ensures religious freedom for all citizens.
But the ruling BJP has maintained that a tougher law is required to check the missionaries who they say bribe poor tribals and low caste Hindus into changing their faith.