BENGALURU: With the State Government keen on tabling the anti-conversion Bill in the winter session of the Legislature in Belagavi next week, voices against the proposal are growing. Ronald Colaco, an NRI entrepreneur and founding chairman of the International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations (IFKCA), on Saturday, led a delegation comprising several Congress leaders to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and presented a memorandum against the Bill.
“The Bill is like a licence to perpetrators who are already committing atrocities against minorities by misusing the existing laws. Where is forced conversion as the statistics of the government shows that the Christian population has declined to 1.87% from 1.91% in last 10 years,” he said. Colaco has to his credit calling on even RSS leaders such as Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat in 2011 over maintaining social harmony in the communally-sensitive coastal districts of the state. Colaco had reportedly contributed to the construction of a church at Venkatala in Bengaluru in 2012.
Former MLC Ivan D’Souza, who was part of the delegation, said they informed Bommai about their opposition to the Bill. “He replied that the government has not decided on introducing the Bill in the Belagavi winter session as it has to be placed before the Cabinet,” D’Souza said.BJP MLC Tulasi Muniraju Gowda asserted that he is prepared to table it as a Private Member’s Bill. The 24-page draft is ready and he has sought permission of the Council Chairman, he added.
“If the government tables the Bill, I will welcome it. I hope it will also add some of my suggestions. But I am prepared to introduce it as a Private Member’s Bill. It is crucial for the state to check religious conversions,” he said.But the Congress has clarified that it will vehemently oppose the introduction of the bill in any form. “Any such move by the BJP government against the minorities will draw the attention of the world and will dent a blow to the image of Bengaluru and affect investments,” said KPCC president DK Shivakumar.
“With elections approaching, BJP has been targeting a particular community. The forced conversion is a dud as there are no instances of Christian missionaries offering health and education benefits to the needy and converting them,” he added.