On Wednesday, Uttarakhand Assembly passed an Anti-Conversion Bill making unlawful conversion a cognisable and non-bailable offence, with a punishment of a maximum of ten years.
Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami said while addressing the media, “Conversion has spread like an infection in the society. Conversion is taking place in many areas by various mediums, which is very dangerous. Uttarkhand is a devbhoomi, such things as forceful conversions will not be tolerated, we will make strict laws against the issue.”
“Dhami Ji has taken a wonderful decision in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, Conversion problem was on the high rise, now people should be cautious and aware of the 10 years of imprisonment before committing such crimes,” said a member of Rashtriya Sewika Samiti, Prachi Sadhvi.
According to the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2022, in addition to a prison sentence, any offender who engages in unlawful conversion will face a fine of at least Rs 50,000.
Besides, the offender may also be liable to pay up to Rs five lakh compensation to the victim.
According to the Act, “No person shall convert, either directly or otherwise, any other person from one religion to another by use or practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means. No person shall abet, convince or conspire such conversion.” Earlier, the punishment for unlawful conversion in the state ranged from one to seven years besides imposition of a fine.
“Under articles 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution of India, under Right to Freedom of Religion, to equally strengthen the importance of every religion, the amendment in Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 is necessary to remove certain difficulties in the Act,” said Minister for Religious Affairs Satpal Maharaj.