Drop Karnataka Anti-Conversion Bill: Bangalore Archbishop
Dr. Peter Machado, Archbishop-Bangalore Archdiocese has appealed to the Karnataka Chief Minister to drop the proposal to introduce the Anti-Conversion Bill as well as to withdraw the orders issued by the Backward Class and Minority Welfare Department to survey institutions, establishments and places of worship of the Christian Community in the state.
The Archbishop said in a statement issued today that the entire Christian Community in Karnataka opposes the proposal unanimously and questions the need for such an exercise when sufficient laws and court directives are in place to monitor any aberration of the existing laws. He drew attention to Article 25 of the Constitution, which states that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health. “Further, Article 26 says that all denominations can manage their own affairs in matters of religion,” the statement said.
Machado, who is also the president of the Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council, stated that introduction of such laws (anti-conversion) would infringe the rights of the citizens, especially of the minority communities. He said that Anti-Conversion Bill would become a tool for the fringe elements to take law into their own hands and vitiate the atmosphere with communal unrest in the otherwise peaceful State.
On the survey of Christian organisations, Machado questioned why only Christian community is targeted and marked for this arbitrary, fallacious and illogical move. “When all the relevant data is already available with the Central and the State Governments, why do we need yet another futile exercise? What is the motive that is driving them to do so?” he questioned.
He pointed out that since Independence, there has been only a 1.87 per cent increase in the Christian population, so the allegations of rampant conversion in the state are not true.
On the contribution of the Christian community to the society, the statement said, “Thousands of schools, colleges and hospitals are run and managed by Christian Community across the State. Lakhs of students are graduating from these institutions year after year. Thousands of patients irrespective of caste, creed and colour receive the best medical attention from our hospitals and care centres, let the Government prove that even one of them has ever been influenced, compelled or coerced to change his or her religion. Notwithstanding this, if the Government is still bent on introducing ‘Anti-Conversion’ Bill, we are afraid it will only fall into the hands of the undesirable elements and the fringe groups, who will target the Christian community and attack our churches and institutions. It is sure to vitiate and bring in communal conflagration and disturb the peace in the society.
Finally, the Archibishop said that the Chief Minister’s validation of moral policing as a natural reaction has only extolled and emboldened the fringe elements and self-styled vigilantes. Since then, attacks and persecutions have increased in undesirable proportions on the religious minorities in the State.