HARYANA ASSEMBLY PASSES ANTI-CONVERSION BILL, NINE OTHERS DURING BUDGET SESSION

Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill was among the 10 Bills that were passed in the Budget session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal said that the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022, is aimed at instilling fear among those who commit crimes.

“A person can change religion as per his own free will, but it will not be allowed to happen to anyone forcibly. Action will be taken against such people if they convert religion by deceit or by giving any kind of greed. The purpose of this Bill is to control forced religious conversion,” he said.

The chief minister said that 127 FIRs for religious conversion were registered in six districts in four years. More cases of conversion have been witnessed in Yamunanagar, Panipat, Gurugram, Palwal, and Faridabad.

The chief minister raised the issue of forced conversion by sharing several examples related to NGOs like Changai Sammelan, and Global Peace. He said that this Bill was in the interest of Haryana as well as the country.

According to the government, some pseudo social organisations with a hidden agenda target the vulnerable sections of the society for conversion by offering allurement. Some of them have been forcibly converted. To prevent these incidents, the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022, has been passed. It prohibits the unlawful conversion from one religion to another by misinterpretation, use of force, threat, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage.

If a person wants to convert voluntarily, he will have to submit a declaration of conversion in the prescribed format to the district magistrate. Any religious priest or other person intending to organise a conversion shall give prior notice to the district magistrate giving information about the venue. A copy of such notice or declaration shall be pasted on the notice board of the DM office.

If any person has objection, then he can file it in writing within 30 days. The DM shall investigate and decide whether the conversion is intended to be in contravention of Section 3. If he finds any contravention, he shall decline the intended conversion by passing an order.

Any person aggrieved by the DM order may file an appeal within 30 days before the Divisional Commissioner.