The Hindu : `Bill aimed only at forcible conversions'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 06, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

`Bill aimed only at forcible conversions'

Sir, — In the Editorial, "Attack on personal freedom" (Nov. 4.), you have stated that the "Jayalalithaa-regime in Tamil Nadu pushed through the Bill," creating an impression that the Bill was hustled through, without observing the due democratic norms. This is simply not true. Enough time was given to the Opposition to cogitate on the Bill and as per your own words after having "gone through the motions of meeting the representatives of the minority religious institutions." Their fears were allayed and necessary assurances given to them that none of their Constitution-ordained rights were being taken away.

You are quite aware that the so-called "groundswell of opposition'' to the Bill was overwhelmingly based on extra-political considerations with absolutely no concern per se for the minorities.

Again, your reference to Ms. Jayalalithaa as being the ideological cousin of the Hindutva camp is far from the truth. From all available fora, she has declared time and again that she has absolutely no commitment, arcane or otherwise, to the agenda of the BJP or any of its para-outfits.

Even at the time of MGR's rule, such a Bill was conceived but had to be given up because of his untimely death. Even an independent commission headed by a person was appointed to draft the Bill.

The Bill has nothing against those seeking conversion, from the Hindu religion to other religions, of their own volition. But mass conversions by heavily-funded outfits are an entirely different story and the State has a duty to protect the interests of these people from the resulting social disharmony.

The Dalits — estranged from their parental religion — are the right fodder because they are not on any intellectual or theological quest. The Bill precisely seeks to remedy this. The Bill only prevents specially foreign-funded religious institutions from resorting to conversions by use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means. Here again, the axe will fall on those resorting to such malpractice and not on the converted by these means.

In no way does the Bill impinge on the right "freely to profess, practise and propagate religion'' as supremely guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. It is a gross misreading of the Constitution to assume that the right to propagate a religion includes the right to forcibly convert. Such an assumption is plainly untrue. Such conversions will bring religion to the market place and will also result in continuing social disharmony at an exponential rate. Nobody in Tamil Nadu at least wants such a calamitous situation to develop.

C. Ponnaiyan,

Minister for Finance,

Tamil Nadu

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