Sufficient provisions under existing laws to stop forcible conversions Kejriwal
Amritsar Jan 30 PTI Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that religious conversions done by allurement or threat are wrong and there are sufficient provisions under existing law in the country to stop such practicesAt the same time he said choosing ones religion was a personal matter and no government has the right to interfere The Delhi chief minister was speaking in poll-bound Punjab where the Jathedar of Akal Takht the highest temporal seat of Sikhs Giani Harpreet Singh had accused Christian missionaries of running programmes for forced conversion of Sikh families in border villages a charge vehemently denied by the Bishop of Diocese of Amritsar Kejriwal said I believe it is a matter of personal choice which religion one wants to practice and it is entirely ones personal matter in which no one has a right to interfere No government has the right to interfere in this and this is ones constitutional right But if anyones conversion is done by allurement or threat that is wrong the AAP chief told reporters when queried about his partys stand on bringing an anti-conversion lawThe BJP has been targeting the AAP over the issue The BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh had earlier passed a bill aimed at curbing religious conversions by fraudulent or any other undue means including through marriage Kejriwal said that forcing anyone to convert was wrongand whatever steps need to be taken to stop this should be taken It is my opinion and I have been told by some lawyers but this needs to be examined further that under the countrys existing law there are sufficient sections and provisions that if anyone forces anyone to convert one can be stopped from doing so Even today there are sufficient provisions in the country to stop forcible conversions Those who talk of a new law what they are doing is a political issue he said in a veiled dig at the BJP Meanwhile on a question pertaining to the 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar Kejriwal accused the Shiromani Akali Dal SAD of playing dirty politics on the issue The SAD has accused the AAP government of obstructing the release of Bhullar Kejriwal said that has he told Delhi Home Secretary to immediately convene a meeting of the Sentence Review Board and ensure that Bhullars issue is taken up in the agenda As several issues are taken up in the Boards meeting I will ensure that this issue is there in the agenda and discussed Whatever decision is taken at the meeting the file goes to the Delhi L-G and he takes the final decision said KejriwalThe SAD had recently said a party delegation would meet President Ram Nath Kovind to seek immediate and effective personal intervention to secure the release of Bhullar Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Kejriwal not to allow a communal bias or political or electoral opportunism to dictate his decision and refusal to grant immediate clearance for Bhullars release The Centre had in September 2019 recommended special remission to eight Sikh prisoners including Bhullar to mark the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev It has been alleged by some Sikh bodies that the AAP government in Delhi has not given its clearance for the release of Bhullar PTI SUN CHS VSD RT RT
Amritsar Jan 30 PTI Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that religious conversions done by allurement or threat are wrong and there are sufficient provisions under existing law in the country to stop such practicesAt the same time he said choosing ones religion was a personal matter and no government has the right to interfere The Delhi chief minister was speaking in poll-bound Punjab where the Jathedar of Akal Takht the highest temporal seat of Sikhs Giani Harpreet Singh had accused Christian missionaries of running programmes for forced conversion of Sikh families in border villages a charge vehemently denied by the Bishop of Diocese of Amritsar Kejriwal said I believe it is a matter of personal choice which religion one wants to practice and it is entirely ones personal matter in which no one has a right to interfere No government has the right to interfere in this and this is ones constitutional right But if anyones conversion is done by allurement or threat that is wrong the AAP chief told reporters when queried about his partys stand on bringing an anti-conversion lawThe BJP has been targeting the AAP over the issue The BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh had earlier passed a bill aimed at curbing religious conversions by fraudulent or any other undue means including through marriage Kejriwal said that forcing anyone to convert was wrongand whatever steps need to be taken to stop this should be taken It is my opinion and I have been told by some lawyers but this needs to be examined further that under the countrys existing law there are sufficient sections and provisions that if anyone forces anyone to convert one can be stopped from doing so Even today there are sufficient provisions in the country to stop forcible conversions Those who talk of a new law what they are doing is a political issue he said in a veiled dig at the BJP Meanwhile on a question pertaining to the 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar Kejriwal accused the Shiromani Akali Dal SAD of playing dirty politics on the issue The SAD has accused the AAP government of obstructing the release of Bhullar Kejriwal said that has he told Delhi Home Secretary to immediately convene a meeting of the Sentence Review Board and ensure that Bhullars issue is taken up in the agenda As several issues are taken up in the Boards meeting I will ensure that this issue is there in the agenda and discussed Whatever decision is taken at the meeting the file goes to the Delhi L-G and he takes the final decision said KejriwalThe SAD had recently said a party delegation would meet President Ram Nath Kovind to seek immediate and effective personal intervention to secure the release of Bhullar Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Kejriwal not to allow a communal bias or political or electoral opportunism to dictate his decision and refusal to grant immediate clearance for Bhullars release The Centre had in September 2019 recommended special remission to eight Sikh prisoners including Bhullar to mark the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev It has been alleged by some Sikh bodies that the AAP government in Delhi has not given its clearance for the release of Bhullar PTI SUN CHS VSD RT RT
