Siddaramaiah Accepts That A Draft Conversion Bill Had Been Formulated In His Tenure, But Was Not Presented Before Cabinet

After all the hullabaloo and protest by the Congress party against the Anti-Conversion bill in Karnataka failed, they have now vowed to repeal the same within a week of coming to power in the state.

Former CM Siddaramaiah tweeted saying, ’there is no doubt that the law will be repealed within one week of ur coming to power or in our first session".

He went on to say that the law is a brainchild of the RSS and asked what more proof does one need than former CM B S Yediyurappa saying it is their government that's the reason for this law becoming reality and K S Eshwarappa admitting on the floor of the house that bringing this law was the objective of the RSS.

He went on to explain that it was he who had instructed the then social welfare minister H Anjaneya to write off the need for a debate around the bill and prevented it from being discussed in the house.

This comes in the wake of the BJP putting the Congress in a spot last week and providing documents to show that a draft of a bill similar to the one passed now had been drafted during the Congress regime In 2016.

Minister for Law J C Madhuswamy had put the Congress party in a spot last week while he mentioned that the draft had been prepared by the Karnataka Law Commission in 2016 as advised by the Siddaramaiah led government.

Siddaramaiah had initially denied it, but then admitted that a draft bill had indeed been prepared but had not been placed before the cabinet and hence they couldn’t be blamed with wanting to formulate any such law.

All opposition parties have been vocal against the controversial Karnataka Protection of Right To Freedom Of Religion Bill 2021, which, as reported, proposes penal action on anyone who indulges in conversion of persons belonging to scheduled castes, tribes, minors and women to another religion.

The bill is said to include all those who 'misrepresent, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage, or abet or conspire such conversion.'

There will be provision for imprisonment of those who indulge in mass conversion from three to 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The 'religious converter' will be required to give one month's prior notice in 'form-II of such conversion' to the district magistrate or any other officer not below the rank of the additional district magistrate.

Marriages done for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa will be declared void. However, this Act will not attract the penal provisions of the Act for reconverting to his immediate previous religion.