Jaipur: Amid ruckus and uproar, the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill was passed in the Rajasthan Assembly on Tuesday. Congress did not participate in the debate on the bill and kept creating a ruckus, while ruling BJP's MLAs hailed the provisions of the bill and stated that such a bill was the need of the hour.
Responding to the debate on the bill, Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham said that the Constitution ensures freedom of religion, but it does not allow conversion. India's great culture believes in Sarvadharma Sambhava.
“This bill was needed to prevent conversion through temptation or force and will prove helpful in stopping cases like fraudulent marriage and love jihad,” said the minister, adding that such a bill has been introduced in many states. Rajasthan had also introduced this in 2008 and has brought it again to stop the increasing incidents of religious conversion.
Striingent provisions like bulldozer action on the buildings of institutions that convert people if there is a violation of rules or encroachment and seizure of the buildings where mass conversion has taken place.
Besides this, marriage by luring or by making false promises and converting the religion before or after marriage will be considered conversion and can be declared void by the court.
The anti-conversion bill has stringent provisions for forced religious conversion, including life imprisonment; however, returning to the original ancestral religion is not included in the definition of religious conversion.
Congress accuses the government of spying
The opposition Congress raised strong objection and created a ruckus about installing extra cameras on opposition benches in the house and alleged that the government is spying on the opposition.
The leader of the opposition, Tikram Julie, said, "Cameras have been installed to violate our privacy and to target the opposition. We are being monitored by installing cameras on us. Personal conversations are being heard.”
The uproar on this issue continued until the end of the day as the chief whip refuted such allegations and said that the house is not one's bedroom or bathroom but a public place. No clarification came from the chair on the issue as the opposition started protesting in the house.
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