Team News Riveting
Bengaluru, June 15
The Congress government led by Siddaramaiah in Karnataka has decided to scrap the law against religious conversion – the promise party had made before elections,
The ruling Congress party had vowed scrapping all the laws made by the previous BJP government in Karnataka. The changes approved by the state cabinet today also included history syllabus in schools and even a law on agricultural markets, H K Patil, the state’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister, said after the cabinet meeting.
The law against religious conversion through coercion, misrepresentation, or allurement, adopted by many BJP-ruled states, was introduced in Karnataka through an Ordinance or executive order in May last year. A bill to replace it was later introduced in the state assembly in September.
The law became a flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress as the latter contended that it was a tool for harassment of minorities. The matter even went to court, where Christian organisations argued that the new law violated the religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Karnataka Cabinet also has decided to remove the chapters on Hindu idealogue V D Savarkar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder K B Hedgewar from school history books. The chapters were added last year. Along with it, all changes in school syllabus made by the BJP government have also been reversed.
The Cabinet has also decided to introduce a new law on agricultural markets (APMC) that will replace the one enacted when the BJP was in power.
After the Congress’ landslide victory in Karnataka, the party made it clear that the new government intends to review policies of the previous BJP government.
