Jharkhand cabinet approved on Tuesday the draft of a bill that will ban religious conversion by force or allurement. The Jharkhand Religious Independence Bill, 2017, was approved at a meeting of the cabinet chaired by chief minister Raghubar Das.
“Anyone found violating the provisions of the bill will be liable to three years’ imprisonment or Rs 50,000 fine or both (sic),” cabinet coordination secretary Surendra Singh Meena said.
The bill is likely to be introduced during the monsoon session of the assembly beginning on August 8. If passed, Jharkhand will become the seventh state to have a law against conversion by force or enticement, which already exists in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.
The cabinet’s decision to clear the bill seems to have stemmed from the figures of the 2011 census released by the Centre earlier. As per the census, roughly 27% of the state’s 3.5 crore population is tribal, 4.3% Christian and 14.53% Muslim. The census report said while the state’s Hindu population grew by 21% in the last 10 years, the Christian population grew by 29.7% and Muslims by 28.4%.
Reactions from the opposition and other quarters were mixed. While the church and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) condemned the cabinet decision, the Muslim community welcomed the move.
Post Your Comments