BENGALURU: The controversial anti-conversion bill or the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion bill 2021 was on Thursday evening passed amid din as Congress legislators jumped into the well protesting against the lack of time for them to speak on the issue and the unparliamentary language used by BJP minister K S Eshwarappa.
Having previously stated that the house had to pass the bill before 5 pm, so as to give the government an opportunity to take it to the upper house for their assent, and if defeated due to lack of numbers, then bring it back once again to the assembly and pass it, Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri put the bill to a voice vote and got it passed after a 6 hour discussion on the issue.
However, rather than on merits, the bill became a political slugfest with the Congress accusing the BJP government of implementing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agenda of a Hindutva nation and the ruling party in turn alleging the principal opposition was being subservient to the party high command led by AICC president Sonia Gandhi.
The JD(S), on its part, accused both the BJP and Congress of “match fixing” and getting the bill passed to suit their vote bank. The BJP on Thursday morning accused the previous Siddaramaiah government of considering an anti-conversion bill on similar lines in 2016 but had not passed it through the cabinet.
Through the 6 hour debate, the bill focused primarily on the opposition parties alleging the BJP was trying to divide the society while the ruling party defended its stance by stating the enactment was meant to protect the underprivileged from being lured into converting from their religion.
“Despite constitutional provisions to protect one’s freedom of religion, the BJP government is bringing the new stringent laws on behalf of the RSS. It is the RSS hidden agenda of Hindutva nation that is being implemented today,” said Siddaramaiah.
Countering this, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai admitted that it was indeed the RSS guidance which had brought the BJP to implement the act.
“There is no hidden agenda or a hidden truth. It is an open truth that the RSS is the only organisation which is trying to protect our faith and religious freedom. The Congress is only playing politics and nothing more,” he said.
Former chief minister B S Yediyurappa accused the Congress of trying to play to the gallery and not interested in discussing the pros and cons of the bill.
“While I had hoped that the opposition leader would have been convinced with the intentions of the bill being brought, it appears that the Congress party is not interested in any sort of a response from the government to their accusations and allegations. They are playing to the gallery and are doing politics for the sake of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the bill is now scheduled to be debated in the upper house where the ruling party is in the minority and the JD(S)-Congress combined opposition has the upper hand.
If defeated in the legislative council, the bill will once again be brought to the assembly for passing it once again and override the council’s lack of consent.