New Delhi : Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Secretary General Nusrat Ali has demanded from Government of Gujarat to revoke the original Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003.
Reacting to Gujarat government’s recent decision to withdraw amendment to the said Act, Mr Ali articulated that the original Act should completely be eliminated as it affected the right to freedom of religion and belief and it can be misused.
"A person should be free to adopt any religion or belief with no intervention, and he or she should be provided congenial environment for it," he asserted.
He called upon people to initiate wide discussion on the Act to mobilise public opinion for some meaningful amendment to or total revocation of the Act.
"Other states oblige a person who gets converted by just informing the government, whereas in Gujarat one has to seek permission of the government. This law actually serves to violate religious freedom as well as the rights protected by International Agreements and the Constitution of India as mentioned in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in Articles 25 to 30 of the Indian Constitution and (UDHR)," the Jamaat leader said.