Mumbai News: Catholics Gather To Meet To Discuss Proposed Anti-Conversion Law

Mumbai: Catholics gathered at St Paul VI Hall at IC Colony , Borivali West on Sunday for a discussion on the proposed 'Freedom of Religion' (Anti Conversion). The gathering urged the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to drop the bill as it violates religious freedom and Constitutional rights.

Among the speakers at the meeting organised by the Bombay Catholic Sabha were auxiliary bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes, Father Henry D'souza, parish priest and spiritual advisor, BCS unit of IC Church, Norbert Mendonca, president of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, and Dolphy D'souza, spokesperson for the Bombay Catholic Sabha. The meeting is part of the organisation's campaign to create public awareness programme on the bill. Over 200 citizens participated in the programme.

Speakers said that Catholic institutions that have been serving the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the marginalised, offering food, shelter, education and medical care without discrimination, could face criminal charges under the law as it allows space for misinterpretation and selective targeting of organisations. They said that the country already has sufficient legal provisions to address coercion and fraud in religious conversions.

Other views were that the process to ascertain conversion by choice should be simplified and not made onerous as the freedom to choose one’s own belief system or to reject is guaranteed by Articles 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution. Speakers said that the he stringent provisions and the risk of action could have a chilling effect on individuals seeking to voluntarily change their faith.

Speakers wanted the term ‘conversion through inducement’ to be specified as to what constitutes ‘inducement’ and that the onus of proof of forced conversion should be on the complainant and not on the accused. They demanded that the law should specify that the complainant should be the victim, or the parents of the victim, if the victim is a minor. Complaints by third parties should not be entertained to prevent incidents as happened in Durg , Chhattisgarh or in Fatehpur, UP. False complaints should also attract an equally severe punishment, they said.

The Supreme Court has consistently upheld the right of consenting adults to interfaith marriages, emphasising it as part of their constitutional right to personal liberty under Article 21, speakers said, expressing fears that the law will disproportionately target minorities.

As part of the ongoing campaign, a memorandum will be submitted to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the two Deputy Chief Ministers, the Bombay Catholic Sabha said. The next meetings are scheduled on November 26 - Constitution Day - at Goregaon, November 30 at Bandra and December 7 at Orlem, Malad, and Kurla.

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