Gandhinagar, India - The Gujarat Assembly Tuesday amended the Freedom of Religion act, providing for a strict penalty for forcible conversions even as the Congress said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was targeting the religious minorities of Muslims and Christians.
The amendments were moved and passed with a heavy majority on the concluding day of the two-day monsoon session amid noisy protests from the opposition Congress.
The original bill was already passed in 2003 but amendments were introduced to for clearer classifications.
The bill, after the amendment, forbids "forced conversion" from one religion to the other but allows one to convert from one denomination to the other of the same religion.
It does not consider Buddhism and Jainism as separate religions but only denominations of the Hindu religion - just as "Shia and Sunni, and Catholics and Protestants are the denominations of Islam and Christianity, respectively".
The opposition alleged the amended bill was aimed at harassing the religious minorities ahead of the assembly elections scheduled next year.
"The amendments are against constitutional norms. Counting Buddhists and Jains among Hindus is nothing but targeting other minorities. The BJP's main targets are minorities like Muslims and Christians and for this purpose they have amended the act," said Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhvadia.
Law Minister Ashok Bhatt defended the bill by saying, "The amendment was required. We wanted to define things properly."
Meanwhile, the house was adjourned for more than an hour as the Congress and a rebel BJP legislator demanded discussion on the issue of relief for those affected in floods witnessed in many parts of the state last month.