With an aim to curb incidents of love jihad, the Haryana council of ministers, Tuesday approved the draft of The Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Bill, 2022 to be tabled in the upcoming Budget session commencing March 2.
The draft was approved in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, besides several other significant decisions. The Bill is proposed to seek to prohibit religious conversions which are effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage by making it an offence.
The Bill’s draft statement of objectives and reasons read, “In recent past, several instances came to the notice that with an agenda to increase strength of their own religion by getting people from other religions converted, people marry persons of other religion by either misrepresentation or concealment of their own religion and after getting married they force such other person to convert to their own religion. Recently Supreme Court also took judicial notice of such instances. Such incidents not only infringe the freedom of religion of the persons so converted but also militate against the secular fabric of our society that conversion just for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable. Such incidents not only infringe the freedom of religion of the persons so converted but also militate against the secular fabric of our society. The Bill, therefore, seeks to prevent religious conversions which are affected through use of force, under threat, misrepresentation, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage by making it an offence. Provide greater punishment for such conversion in respect of the Minor, Women, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.”
The draft also mentions, “Provide that the burden of proof as to whether a conversion was not affected through misrepresentation, use of force, under threat, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage for the purpose of carrying out conversion lies on the accused.”
