Haryana govt to bring anti-conversion bill in upcoming budget session of Assembly

The BJP-led government in Haryana will bring in a bill prohibiting religious conversions carried out through force, allurement or fraudulent means and declaring marriages solemnised by concealment of religion null and void, in the upcoming budget session of the Assembly. According to the draft bill, the burden of proof "lies on the accused".

A meeting of the Haryana Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here, approved the draft Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022 on Tuesday.

Several BJP-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have such legislation against illegal conversion.

The Bill will now be moved in the Haryana Assembly, whose budget session begins on March 2.

"The said Bill seeks to prohibit religious conversions which are effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage by making it an offence," an official statement said.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Khattar cases of forced conversion came to light in Yamunanagar, Mewat, Gurugram and Panipat districts recently.

When there is a law, such religious conversions can be stopped, he said, adding other states have also implemented similar legislation.

Notably, the Haryana government had been mulling to bring this law for over a year.

In November 2020, state Home Minister Anil Vij had announced the setting up of a three-member committee to draft a bill against "love jihad", a term used by BJP leaders to describe the alleged religious conversion of Hindu women in the guise of marriage.

A committee comprising IAS officer TL Satyaprakash, IPS officer Navdeep Virk and Additional Advocate General Deepak Manchanda was later constituted to study the issue.

Meanwhile, the Bill's draft statement of objectives and reasons said that there were instances where, "to increase the strength of their religion", people were marrying persons of other religions by concealment of their own religion and then forcing them to convert.

Published on: Wednesday, February 09, 2022, 09:03 AM IST