Bengaluru: Karnataka law minister J C Madhuswamy on Thursday defended the controversial anti-conversion bill targeting Congress and claiming former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s Congress government in 2016 directed the drafting of the bill and its scrutiny by the Law Commission. Madhuswamy said the bill was not then brought before the Cabinet. “We have taken the same bill and added a few more clauses to it,” Madhuswamy said. He requested Congress to help pass the bill. which was tabled in the state assembly amid protests, saying they have brought it to ensure public order.
Siddaramaiah said he issued no such order for drafting the bill. TB Jayachandra, the then law minister, echoed him.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and ministers alleged Siddaramaiah was attempting to divert the House from facts presented before it.
Madhuswamy presented some documents to the assembly speaker that he claimed confirmed his claim.
The Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) have opposed the bill, which has triggered protests amid a series of attacks on Christians in the state over alleged conversions of people by “force or allurement”.
Unidentified attackers vandalised a church in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district, around 65 km from Bengaluru. The attack coincided with the tabling of the anti-conversion bill in the assembly.
According to a People’s Union for Civil Liberties report, 39 instances of hate crimes were reported against the community in Karnataka in 2021. The report titled “Criminalizing the Practice of Faith” listed out the 39 incidents. It added in some cases, the police and politicians colluded with right-wing organisations in carrying out the attacks.
BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh have criminalised what they call forced religious conversion, including through interfaith marriages. Critics of the legislation say they are being misused to target Muslims and Christians.
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