The Hindu : Withdraw ordinance, minorities' panel tells Jayalalithaa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2002

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National

Withdraw ordinance, minorities' panel tells Jayalalithaa

By Our Special Correspondent

Annamma Philip (left) Chairperson, Minority Commission, submitting a memorandum to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J.Jayalalithaa, at the Secretariat in Chennai on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI OCT. 22. The State Minorities Commission today asked the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, to withdraw the controversial ordinance banning "forcible religious conversions", unequivocally stating that it would trigger "social tension" and "disharmony" in the State.

A day after Christian and Muslim leaders called on the Chief Minister and demanded a repeal of the ordinance, the members of the State Minorities Commission visited the State Secretariat today and handed over a memorandum to Ms. Jayalalithaa, highlighting what they called "vague provisions" of the law which gave room for "misinterpretation and misuse".

After the meeting, the Commission's chairperson, Annamma Philip, told the media that the ordinance was "unwarranted" and would create a divide between the minorities and the majority communities in the State with a pervasive secular feeling.

However, Ms. Jayalalithaa was firm on continuing with the law and insisted that the ordinance would not be misused and that it was not directed against the minorities and would cover the majority Hindu fundamentalists as well, she said. In its representation, the Commission said the Indian Penal Code itself was adequate to deal with forcible conversions, if any. And, words such as "allurements" had not been clearly defined giving scope for misuse. Section 5 of the ordinance, which required any priest directly or indirectly involved in conversion ceremony to send an intimation to the district magistrates, gave room for "misuse and misinterpretation", the Commission maintained.

Even in other States where similar anti-conversion laws existed, the punishment was not so harsh as in the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Forcible Conversions of Religion Ordinance, which slaps a maximum of four-year imprisonment and Rs. 1 lakh fine. "In similar laws in other States, the punishment is either in the form of fine or imprisonment, and not both as in Tamil Nadu," Sister Annamma Philip said. Also, as there was no "statistics" on forcible conversions, there was no "urgent need" for the ordinance.

The Commission's member, Gautham Vaid, said the Government looked into the "effect" and not at the cause for "voluntary conversions".

The Commission's vice-chairman, Kamal Sheriff, said they had sought statutory powers for the minorities' body to enable it to function more effectively.

Dr. K.M. Cherian said the minorities in Tamil Nadu were only serving the majority Hindus by providing educational, medical and other services.

Earlier in the day, the Srirangam Srimad Andavan Ashram's chief functionary, Narasimha Ragavachari, called on the Chief Minister and congratulated her for the ordinance.

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