Rajasthan passes anti-conversion Bill
Friday, 07 April , 2006, 17:42
Jaipur: Amid a noisy walkout by the Congress-led opposition, the Rajasthan Assembly on Friday passed a bill for prohibition of religious conversion "by use of force, allurement or fraudlent means".
The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantrata (religious freedom) Bill, introduced by the BJP government, was passed by a voice vote after a stormy walkout by the opposition Congress and CPI(M) members following 90 minutes of deadlock in the House.
Trouble started with a Congress MLA, Mahipal Singh Yadav, making some alleged derogatory remarks against Hindus. Angry ruling party MLAs did not allow the other members to continue the debate on the bill and also tried to move a motion against Mahipal.
The Congress objected and requested Speaker Sumitra Singh to pardon Mahipal, but the Speaker ruled it out saying it was the "biggest crime" to use such "defamatory words in respect of Hindus and no Hindu would tolerate such things."
Despite Leader of Opposition R N Choudhary tendering an apology on behalf of Mahipal, the ruling party members continued to protest.
Staging a walkout, Choudhary said if the BJP government wanted to pass the bill on the "game of numbers" and without a serious debate, it was not good to stay in the House.
CPI (M) member Amraram also staged walkout alleging that the government brought the bill to "appease the RSS and promote the hidden agenda" of the party.
Defending the provisions of the bill, Home Minister G C Kataria said Rajasthan would be the sixth state after Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh to prevent "forceful religious conversion."
Without naming a Kota-based minority institution, Kataria alleged it was getting huge funds from the US for "forceful religious conversion as is evident from past incidents."
This kind of religious conversion would not be allowed at any cost, he asserted.
Jaipur: Amid a noisy walkout by the Congress-led opposition, the Rajasthan Assembly on Friday passed a bill for prohibition of religious conversion "by use of force, allurement or fraudlent means".
The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantrata (religious freedom) Bill, introduced by the BJP government, was passed by a voice vote after a stormy walkout by the opposition Congress and CPI(M) members following 90 minutes of deadlock in the House.
Trouble started with a Congress MLA, Mahipal Singh Yadav, making some alleged derogatory remarks against Hindus. Angry ruling party MLAs did not allow the other members to continue the debate on the bill and also tried to move a motion against Mahipal.
The Congress objected and requested Speaker Sumitra Singh to pardon Mahipal, but the Speaker ruled it out saying it was the "biggest crime" to use such "defamatory words in respect of Hindus and no Hindu would tolerate such things."
Despite Leader of Opposition R N Choudhary tendering an apology on behalf of Mahipal, the ruling party members continued to protest.
Staging a walkout, Choudhary said if the BJP government wanted to pass the bill on the "game of numbers" and without a serious debate, it was not good to stay in the House.
CPI (M) member Amraram also staged walkout alleging that the government brought the bill to "appease the RSS and promote the hidden agenda" of the party.
Defending the provisions of the bill, Home Minister G C Kataria said Rajasthan would be the sixth state after Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh to prevent "forceful religious conversion."
Without naming a Kota-based minority institution, Kataria alleged it was getting huge funds from the US for "forceful religious conversion as is evident from past incidents."
This kind of religious conversion would not be allowed at any cost, he asserted.
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