BENGALURU: Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) national executive member Ram Madhav on Saturday defended the Karnataka Government’s anti-conversion Bill, stating it is only meant to regulate forced conversions. Christian community leaders have expressed apprehensions over the Bill which was passed in the Assembly during the recent winter session in Belagavi. It will be tabled in the Legislative Council in January. “The Bill does not ban anything. If conversions are done through force, fraud or allurement, such conversions cannot be acceptable,” he told TNSE.
Stating that the law is not directed against any particular community, but only against certain malpractices, the RSS leader said there were many instances like misleading people or using allurements to indulge in conversions. The law is to regulate certain methods adopted to convert people as conversion also leads to collateral consequences, like family-related tension and even communal peace can be disturbed, he said. “I think, keeping that in view, the Bill has been proposed. In any case, it is still before the House. Let the House take a view,” he added.
Extended outreach
Ram Madhav said that as part of the extended outreach initiative, RSS leaders, including its chief, are reaching out to different sections of society. “They may not be directly participating in RSS activities, but they should understand what we work for, so that misconceptions are removed and also goodwill is generated,” he said.
On the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the RSS leader said there was a deliberate and mischievous campaign to create controversies. “There is no provision to take away anybody’s citizenship. Misunderstandings will be cleared and very soon we are hoping that the government will come up with the rules for the CAA,” he said.
On criticism that the suggestion for population policy is aimed at one particular community, the RSS leader said it is wrong to bring communal discourse into population control policy. “It should be uniform and across the board,” he added.