Frame norms to check religious conversion: Madras HC
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday told the Madras High Court that strict action would be taken if religious conversions are reported from schools in the State. Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran made the submission before a vacation bench of justices R Mahadevan and S Ananthi when a petition seeking orders to the State to ban religious conversions in educational institutions came up for hearing.
“Only two stray instances were cited by the petitioner. The government has already taken appropriate action and will take stringent action in case of such activities if reported,” he told the bench and sought the dismissal of the petition.
Justice Mahadevan, however, stressed the need to frame guidelines to check religious conversions on campuses. “What is the difficulty in framing the guidelines?,” he asked the AAG. The judge pointed out that one has a right to practice their religion but no right to perform forced conversion. He directed the State to file its submissions on Friday and allowed the petitioner to place further materials before the court.
The petitioner, advocate B Jagannath, prayed for orders to the State to frame guidelines and take all steps, including “corrective measures to prohibit/prevent and ban proselytisation and forced religious conversion”, in all government and aided schools. He also wanted the guidelines to be framed within a time frame.
The petitioner cited the death of a girl in a Thanjavur school run by Christian missionaries and the Supreme Court’s upholding of a CBI inquiry into the incident. He also pointed out the incident of a teacher forcing a student to kneel down in a Kanniyakumari government school. The bench adjourned the matter to Friday (May 6).