Karnataka's anti-conversion law weaponised for harassment, false cases, personal vendettas
Bengaluru: A recent report by The News Minute, reveals that Karnataka’s anti-conversion law is being used to harass citizens, often for personal grudges or in the guise of protecting religious sentiments. Numerous individuals, including those from marginalised backgrounds, claim false accusations of religious conversion have been levelled against them, masking caste discrimination or personal vendettas.
One such case is of Somanna (name changed), a Dalit resident of Haveri district. He has been attending court almost monthly for over a year due to a complaint filed against him in February 2023, accusing him of converting people to Christianity. However, he alleges the true issue was caste-based hostility in his village, Balambida, where he had faced discrimination for teaching local children from different castes. The anti-conversion accusation, he claims, was used to disguise casteist abuse after he refused to stop the Sunday prayer meetings he hosted.
Introduced by the BJP in December 2021, Karnataka's anti-conversion law, The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, criminalises conversions allegedly induced through "allurement" or "temptations." Critics, including legal experts, argue that the law’s ambiguous language makes it susceptible to misuse.
Between May 2022 and June 2024, 30 cases under the anti-conversion law have been reported across Karnataka, according to the State Crime Records Bureau. Although the Congress government pledged to repeal the law after assuming power, it later deferred the decision, citing the impending Lok Sabha elections.
Reports show that 21 cases were filed under the BJP-led government, with nine additional cases occurring post the Congress takeover in May 2023. Interviews by ‘The New Minute’, with several of the accused and legal professionals suggest that the law is frequently wielded as a weapon of harassment rather than protection.
In another case from Bengaluru, a complaint was filed in October 2022 against an interfaith couple. The woman’s mother accused her daughter’s partner, Suhail (name changed), of coercing her daughter into conversion. The woman, however, denied these claims and has openly defended her relationship, challenging her mother’s allegations.
Other incidents highlight similar misuse. In Vijayapura district, Ganga (name changed), an ASHA worker, was terminated after community members accused her of attempting conversions. Harassment in her village escalated, with locals even cutting off her water and electricity supply. Despite a favourable High Court order reinstating her, her return to work has been marked by ongoing intimidation.
The misuse of Karnataka's anti-conversion law reflects historical debates on religious freedom, a topic heavily discussed in the Constituent Assembly while framing Article 25. Proponents of the right to propagate cited the freedom to share one’s faith, while others expressed concern about potential abuses of influence. Despite this, the right to propagate remains enshrined in India’s Constitution, though anti-conversion laws, including Karnataka’s, restrict this under claims of “inducement.”
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UP Police use tear gas to disperse crowd throwing stones during Sambhal mosque survey
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals here on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Tension has been seething in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
According to the local administration, a second survey by an "Advocate Commissioner" as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site began around 7 am and a crowd began gathering at the spot.
"Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.
He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.
District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, "Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now and the survey is underway."
Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "Advocate Commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain said last Tuesday.
Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that "Baburnama" and the "Ain-e-Akbari" has confirmed that a Harihar temple was at the site where the Jama Masjid now stands.
He also claimed that the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.
"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.
The next date for hearing in this case is January 29.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Stones and slippers pelted in Sambhal when a survey team reached Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a survey of the mosque.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 24, 2024
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#SambhalJamaMasjid pic.twitter.com/K4QGGpzlMK
