Bhopal, India - Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar has sent the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill for the consideration of the President. The Act, first passed in 1968, was amended by the BJP Government in 2006, without any discussion in the Assembly.
Congress had requested the Governor not to give his assent to the Bill because some provisions were draconian. The Bill makes it necessary to give a one-month notice to the District Magistrate prior to conversion. This would allow the administration to inquire through the Superintendent of Police and the local police station, whether the proposed conversion is genuine or through inducement.
The Amendment also makes it compulsory for the priests to notify the district authorities a month before any conversion ceremony. Under the original Act it was mandatory for priests to notify the authorities after the conversion. The Amendment also provides for a stringent punishment besides a monetary fine.
Jakhar had sought district-wise details of conversions in the last five years, which the state Government could not provide. The home department sent the details in installments but the figures did not justify the Amendment.
Then Chief Minister Uma Bharati had set up a committee headed by retired IPS officer Narendra Prasad following reports that conversions were rampant in the tribal-dominated Jhabua district that saw anti-Christian violence. The report was never made public. However, according to the home department report, these backward districts did not report a single conversion during the five-year period.
Before sending the Bill, Jakhar had sought the opinion of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, both of whom had opined that the Amendment was not in conformity with the religious freedom granted by the Constitution.
Incidentally, President Pratibha Patil, who will now decide the fate of the Bill, had herself sent a similar legislation to her predecessor A P J Abdul Kalam, when she was the Rajasthan Governor, after returning the Bill to the state Government. Recently, Gujarat Governor Naval Kishore Sharma also returned the bill to the state Government.