Anti-Conversion Law
'Why conversion for marriage?' Rajnath Singh on anti-conversion law
New Delhi/IBNS: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has questioned the practice of conversion for marriages in the Muslim community, amid the heated debate over the new anti-conversion law enacted by several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.
"I want to ask why there should be a conversion. The practice of mass conversions should stop," Singh said in an interview with ANI.
"As far as I know, in the Muslim religion, one cannot marry someone from another religion. I personally do not approve of conversion for marriage," the senior minister in the Narendra Modi government said.
"In many cases, you may have seen that the religious conversion is being done forcefully and sometimes it is done under greed. Natural marriage and forceful conversion for marriage has a big difference and I think governments which made these laws have considered all these things," the BJP veteran added.
The law, which criminalises forceful conversions for marriage, has been subjected to severe criticism by various opposition political parties.
In some disperate incidents, couples were alleged to have been harrassed in the name of the law in Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The Uttar Pradesh government's controversial anti-conversion ordinance has transformed the state into "the epicentre of politics of hate, division and bigotry", a letter signed by 104 former IAS officers wrote to Adityanath on Tuesday.
The letter was signed by some eminent former IAS officers including former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and former Adviser to the Prime Minister TKA Nair.
Demanding that the "illegal ordinance be withdrawn forthwith", the signatories stated that all politicians, including the Chief Minister, need to "re-educate yourselves about the Constitution which you... have sworn to uphold".
Not only the Opposition, the BJP faced criticism from its own ally Janata Dal (United), which is led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, over the law.
"There have been attempts to divide the society, this is not right," JDU spokesperson KC Tyagi said as quoted by NDTV.
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