Even as the BJP-led NDA government has favoured an anti-conversion law — it has put the onus on the Opposition — the Ministry of Home Affairs has sent the pending anti-conversion Bills of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh back to these States.
The MHA, the go-between the State and the President for Bills that are repugnant to the Central government laws, has asked the two States for further clarifications, a senior official told The Hindu .
Addressing the conference of the State minority commissions in March this year, senior BJP leader and Home Minister Rajnath Singh called for a debate and said: “We must think about bringing an anti-conversion law.”
The Rajasthan Bill was passed by the Assembly in 2008.
The Dharma Swatantraya Sanshodhan Vidheyak, 2006, introduced by the BJP government of Chief Minister Raman Singh in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, has also been returned. The Bill says the return of a person to his ancestors’ religion shall not be construed as “conversion.” It accords with the ghar vapsi campaign of the right wing groups.
The Bill says any person who wants to convert will have to inform the district magistrate who will be the final authority. Governors Lieutenant General (retd.) Krishna Mohan Seth and E.S.L. Narsimhan had denied the Bill clearance. Shekhar Dutt, Mr. Narasimhan’s successor, forwarded the Bill to the Centre in 2013. The MHA sent it for consultations among the Ministries of Culture, Tribal Affairs, Minority Affairs and Women and Child Development. “After getting a response from all the Ministries concerned, we have sent back the Bills to Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and have sought clarifications. It does not mean that the Bills have been rejected by the Centre, the process is still on,” said a senior official.
