BENGALURU: Several prominent citizens and intellectuals have, through a petition, demanded the repeal of all anti-conversion laws in India, in the context of the scheduled tabling of the Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, in the Upper House on February 14.
The petition initiated by the National Solidarity Forum (NSF), a network of civil rights groups and individuals, has called for joining hands to defend the values enshrined in the Constitution and protection of human rights of the minorities and other marginalised sections in India.
While articulating that a new anti-conversion law is not necessary since the Constitution has enough provisions for the same, the signatories to the petition also stated that "wherever the anti-conversion law, ironically officially called Freedom of Religion Act, was passed, it became a justification for the persecution of the minorities and other marginalised identities", said Prof Ram Punyani, convenor, NSF.
Margaret Alva, former Governor of Goa, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, in support of the petition has appealed to support the NSF and dissuade the government from passing the Bill. The initial signatories for the petition to the President include former chief of Naval Staff Admiral L Ramdas, dancer Mallika Sarabhai, activist Medha Patkar, and former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, among others.