advertisement
Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) Basavaraj Bommai, on Wednesday, 29 December said that a Special Task Force will be set up to implement the anti-Conversion Bill (Karnataka Protection of Right to Religion Bill, 2021) in the state.
The Karnataka Protection of Right to Religion Bill, 2021 was passed in the Assembly on 23 December, despite mounting criticism from several quarters in the state. The Bill seeks to prohibit conversion from one religion to another by means that it lists as fraudulent.
The Bill provides for the imposition of stringent punishment for violators of the anti-conversion law, with different sentences for persons belonging to the general category and those involved in converting persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Schedule Tribe categories.
Rights activists, citizens and the opposition in the state, have, however, criticised the Bill, calling it "unconstitutional" and "a tool to embolden fringe groups".
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)