Rajasthan Assembly Passes Controversial Anti-conversion Bill

JAIPUR, MAR. 21, 2008 (CBCI News):

The Rajasthan Assembly passed the controversial Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Bill, 2008, on Thursday, March 20, 2008, in spite of stormy opposition from the Opposition parties.

The Bill was reintroduced in the House last week. It prohibits conversion by "use of force, allurement or fradulent means" and provides for prison terms of up to five years and fines of Rs 50,000 for offenders.

A similar Bill banning religious conversion, was passed by the house earlier, but was returned by the then Governor Pratibha Patil in 2006.

The new Bill also has a clause for cancellation of registration of organisations held "guilty" and special protection for minors, women, Scheduled Castes and Sceduled Tribes.

Interestingly, the BJP government in neighbouring Gujarat had recently withdrawn a similar legislation after it was returned by the state governor.

Rajasthan is the sixth state trying to pass an anti-conversion law after Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The Bill requires a signature of the Governor before it can become a law.

The Bill has been passed just months before Rajasthan goes to the polls and is being seen as an attempt to woo the Hindu vote by the ruling BJP.