Congress to repeal anti-conversion law passed by BJP in Karnataka

The Congress government in Karnataka on Thursday decided to repeal the anti-conversion law passed during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party regime, NDTV reported.

It also approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks by removing the chapters on Rashtriya Swamsevakh Sangh founder KB Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, among others, according to PTI.

The decisions were taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The anti-conversion law was first introduced through an ordinance in May last year. It was passed by the erstwhile Basavraj Bommai government in the state Assembly in September.

The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act prohibited “conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage”. Under the law, a person who engages in “forced conversion” would be punished with three to five years imprisonment. Forced conversions of members from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities would lead to a jail term of three to 10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000.

Karnataka was among the several BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat that have passed laws banning forced conversions. However, the Bill in Karnataka was more stringent than the ones in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh which have a minimum...

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