Patna, Feb 27 (IANS) The issue of enacting stricter laws against religious conversion resonated in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on the final day of the Budget Session, as several ruling party members raised the matter through a calling attention motion. 

Eighteen MLAs from the ruling alliance, including Maithili Thakur, Mithilesh Tiwari, Virendra Kumar, Janak Singh, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Jivesh Kumar, Tar Kishore Prasad and Baidyanath Prasad, spoke on the issue, calling for a law similar to those enacted in other states.

The MLAs stated that states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat have implemented laws against religious conversion.

According to them, these laws provide for stringent punishment, including imprisonment ranging from one to 10 or even 20 years in cases involving alleged fraudulent conversion, child marriage, or inducement.

Members also claimed that demographic changes in certain parts of Bihar warranted legislative intervention.

They alleged that religious conversions were being carried out on a large scale and expressed concern over the situation in border districts and the Seemanchal region.

Mithilesh Tiwari, MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said, “Uttar Pradesh has strict laws, and a similar law should be enacted in Bihar. In Buxar alone, 1,000 Dalit families have converted. The demographics of Seemanchal have changed. Therefore, this law is needed; the government should consider it.”

Some MLAs cited figures regarding population growth and the establishment of churches in the state, alleging that conversions were taking place through inducement.

BJP MLA Sanjay Singh termed it not just religious conversion, but national conversion, while another member, Anil Singh, demanded strict legislation to curb the practice.

Certain members also raised questions about reservation benefits following religious conversion and referred to constitutional provisions in their arguments.

Responding to the debate, Tourism and Arts & Culture Minister Arun Shankar Prasad clarified that the Bihar government currently has no proposal to introduce legislation related to religious conversion.

“There is no proposal to enact any legislation related to this at this time,” the minister stated in the House.

When some BJP members continued to press the issue, Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar intervened, stating that the calling attention motion had been admitted and that the government would review the matter if necessary. He ruled that there would be no further discussion on the issue.

--IANS