Statement rally against anti conversion bill in karnataka

1. Joint Citizen’s Protest Rally from Mysore Bank Circle to Freedom Park,
Bengaluru | December 21st
, 2021
Today the streets of Bangalore saw an outpour of citizens in large numbers to protest against
the anti-people and unconstitutional ‘Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill
2021’. The rally began from Mysore Bank Circle and culminated at Freedom Park. A broad
coalition of more than 40 organisations vociferously demanded that the Bill be withdrawn as
the Government of Karnataka is trampling upon the constitutionally guaranteed rights to
freedom of religion, privacy and dignity.
Speaking at the protest, advocate and constitutional law expert Arvind Narrain said that the
Supreme Court has recognised that individuals have the freedom to dress the way they want,
eat what they want and practise the faith they want. The bill by seeking to target conversions
interferes with both the human right to dignity and the freedom to practise the faith of their
choice.
Gowramma of Janwadi Mahila Sanghatan stated that these are dark days in Karnataka and the
bill is not just an attack on religion but an attack on all women. The bill presumes that women
and individuals from Dalit and SC communities do not have the agency to decide the religion
they want to belong to. Demanding that the state withdraw the bill, she asked that the
government should instead be paying attention to problems of nutrition, unemployment and
rising violence against women.
Archbishop of Bengaluru Peter Machado urged the state to reconsider the bill and withdraw it.
The bill is harmful to not only Christians but also many other communities. He pointed out that
many laws exist already to prevent forced conversions. The Christian community has always
served the country and its poor and forced conversions are a mortal sin for us, he added.
Yousuf Kunhi, Jamaat-e-Islami, Karnataka chapter, directly addressing the Lingayat MLAs in
Karnataka’s assembly, stated that by supporting the bill, they would be going against
Basavanna’s teachings. He also asked all the supporters of the bill in the Assembly to resign
because they won the elections on the basis of the constitution and promised development,
progress and communal harmony. If they cannot deliver on these promises, they have no right
to continue in office, he added.
C.S. Dwarkanath, former chairperson of the State Backward Classes Commission, asked on
what basis was the law being formulated without any discussions with experts and lawyers.
Citing Ambedkar’s stance on conversion, he said that the constitution-maker had declared that
people should not be born into a religion but should be allowed to choose their faith. It is
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also the inherent discrimination and the absence of fraternity within Hindu religion that
prompts people to convert, he pointed out.
Clifton D’Rozario from All India Lawyers Association for Justice stated that this is a fascist

2. attack on minorities, women and the oppressed in our society. Pointing to the Chief Minister
BS Bommai attending an event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in
the middle of the assembly session, he said that the CM had called conversion a big disease,
the government was tackling it through such laws but the VHP and Bajrang Dal should start a
state wide campaign about this. All this highlights the ways in which the fascist political project
is being implemented through the law.
Ruth Manorama of Women’s Voice highlighted her own Dalit Christian identity and said that
as an activist with 40 years of experience working with slum residents, Dalits and women and
the capacity to mobilise lakhs of people, she had not converted even one individual. Arguing
that the bill is anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-Buddhist, she said that as citizens we believe in
secularism and will protect it till our death.
Advocate BT Venkatesh, activist Akkai Padmashali, writer Sharifa, among others also spoke
at the protest.
Large number of people gathered to register their protest against this unconstitutional bill.
Through speeches, resistance music and constitutional slogans we demanded that the
Government take back the bill.
Organizations that participated in the protest:
All Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights, All India Catholic University
Federation (AICUF), All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), All India
Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), All India Lawyers association for justice
(AILAJ), All India People's Forum (AIPF), All India Students Association (AISA), Ashirvad
Centre for Social Concern, Association for Protection of Civil Rights, Campaign Against Hate
Speech, Bahutva Karnataka, Dalit Christian Liberation Movement, Dalit Minority Sena,
Dalitha Samara Sene, DSS (Bheemvada), Ecumenical Council for Drought Action and
Management, Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity Karnataka Chapter (FDCA -K),
Forward Trust, Gamana Mahila Samuha, !ಾ ರ$ಾ ಯ ಜನಕ*ಾ ಸ,$ (Indian People’s Theatre
Association), Indian Citizens Forum, Indian Social Institute – Bangalore, Karnataka Christa
Sanghatane, Karnataka Janashakti, Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, Karnataka Rajya
Raitha Sangha, Karnataka Vidyarthi Sanghatane, Karnataka Yuva Dhwani, Liberation Through
Cultural Action, Movement for Justice, Naaveddu Nilladiddare Karnataka, NAPM –
Karnataka, National Solidarity Forum, OIKOTREE Global Forum, Ondede, Orissa
Development Action Forum, PUCL - Karnataka, Reachlaw, Samvidhanada Haadiyalli, Study
Circle Group, Students Christian Movement India (SCMI), Swaraj Abhiyan, United Christian
Forum India, Women's voice.
For more information contact: Shujayathulla (9620865888) ; Rajendra YJ,
(9449011530)
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Note on the unconstitutional nature of the ‘Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom
of Religion Bill 2021’

3. Our protest against the bill is grounded in the understanding of the freedoms guaranteed by the
Constitution, whose maker is none other than Babasaheb Ambedkar. The bill, falsely citing the
prevalence of forced conversion seeks to prohibit conversion by misrepresentation, force,
undue influence, coercion, and allurement. In reality, it aims to criminalize the practice of faith
and openly assault fundamental rights to individuals.
The presumption underlying this bill is that there is some sinister motive behind a person
converting and that legitimises this open assault on the right to freely practice religion under
Article 25 of the Constitution. This bill is being brought in by creating a myth of ‘forced
conversion’ and ‘forced mass conversion’ when there are none. The census statistics actually
shows that the proportion of Christian population in India and in Karnataka is on a steady
decline. Despite this, the bill is being rammed through to legitimise hate crimes against
minorities.
Specific unconstitutional provisions of the bill
Vague definition of allurement: The provisions of the bill are so broad and vague that any act
could be construed as allurement. For example, the term allurement is defined to include any
gift, employment, free education, glorifying one religion against another, among other things.
Acts of kindness and social service are thus criminalized. It also allows for officials
implementing the law to be arbitrary in their interpretation of what constitutes allurement and
opens individuals and communities for harassment.
The term “glorifying one religion over another” is manifestly arbitrary. If an individual were
to say ‘Hinduism provides a way of life and is better than other religions’, it could very well
be construed to be glorifying Hinduism over other religions. Yearning for a better life through
free education even when right to education is a fundamental right is criminalised if religious
institutions provide free education. It goes on to include “portraying practice, rituals and
ceremonies or any integral part of a religion in a detrimental way vis-à-vis another religion”
as allurement. By that logic, religious practices which are an affront to the constitution such as
sati, dowry, the caste system cannot be critiqued. Further, it prohibits the exercise of the
fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, which includes the right to speak freely
about religion.
Legitimiseshatecrimes against minorities: The Bill effectively legitimises hate crimes against
Christians and Muslims. The protests against the Bill are being held in a climate of hatred
against minorities in Karnataka. In the course of this year, as the Peoples Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL-K) has documented there are over 39 attacks on Christians and 71 instances
of communal policing and hate crimes against Muslims. Instead of initiating action against the
perpetrators of these hate crimes, the government is targeting them through this Bill.
Gives power to the state to determine the ‘genuineness’ of intention: What is shocking is that
the Bill requires a District Magistrate to be intimated 30 days before converting by both the
individual as well as the religious figure effectuating the conversion. Thereafter, the District
Magistrate through the police has the power to investigate into the ‘genuine intention, purpose
and cause of the proposed conversion’. How can anyone but the individual
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themselves investigate into the ‘genuine intention of proposed conversion’? Failure of an
individual who is converting to do the same would result in his conviction for a minimum of
one year and upto 3 years. It thus criminalizes the mere act of faith.
The nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy decision of 2015, has
unequivocally held that the right to choose one’s religion remains a core part of one’s

4. fundamental right to freedom of religion under Article 25, right to dignity under Article 21 and
is an integral part of one’s right to privacy. By presuming that in all cases of conversion there
is some sinister motive behind conversion, which the District Magistrate through the police has
to enquire into, this Bill if enacted, will take away the right to choose one’s faith which is a
fundamental aspect of both privacy and dignity. The Supreme Court in Puttaswamy v. Union
of India interpreted the right to privacy and dignity to hold,
‘…liberty enables the individual to have a choice of preferences on various facets of
life including what and how one will eat, the way one will dress, the faith one will
espouse and a myriad other matters on which autonomyand self-determination require
a choice to be made within the privacy of the mind.’
Disproportionateburden on the person intendingtoconvert: The Bill places the entire burden
on the individual who has converted to prove that the said conversion is not by way of force.
This is a disproportionate burden on individuals that are converting. It even goes on to
categorise forcible conversion as a non bailable, cognizable offence, making getting bail
extremely difficult for merely converting to another religion.
Depriving women and SC/ST persons of agency: It prescribes a higher punishment in case
women, SC/ST persons are converted, reflecting thereby the patriarchal presumptions of the
bill that somehow women and SC/ST persons are incapable of making choices about their own
lives and are more susceptible to propaganda than upper-caste men. It also presumes that
somehow it is far worse for the society if women and SC/ST persons choose to convert. We
see that the Bill targets the right to choose one’s faith with particular implications for SC/ST
persons as well as women.
Assault on inter-faith relationships, including marriages: The Bill apart from targeting the
practice of faith also seeks to enact a prohibition on what it calls, ‘conversion for the sake of
marriage’. This is a direct assault on inter-faith relationships and inter-faith marriages. Instead
of taking action against such attacks as mandated by the Supreme Court, this Bill seeks to
legitimize attacks on inter-faith couples. This is nothing other than a patriarchal mindset which
undermines the ability of women to make choices about their personal and intimate lives.
This Bill if passed will undermine our precious constitutional rights to faith, autonomy and
choice, marriage as well as the underlying constitutional value of dignity. For these reasons we
oppose the passing of the Bill and demand that it be withdrawn.
We reject this hate politics and want a Karnataka of Basavanna’s dream!
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