The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday introduced a bill in the state assembly to enhance the punishment and add a specific mention of “mass conversion” in an existing law that forbids change of religion through force or allurement.
The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022 is a more stringent version of The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019, which came into force just a little over a year and half ago. The 2019 bill was notified only on December 21, 2020 -– 15 months after it was passed in the state assembly. The 2019 version itself had replaced a 2006 law, which prescribed lesser punishments.
The amendment bill now introduced by Jai Ram Thakur’s BJP government proposes to increase the punishment for forced conversions from up to seven years in prison to a maximum of 10. It stipulates that the complaints made under the Act will be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of a sub inspector. The offences will now be tried by a sessions court. ''In order to make the Act more effective some minor changes are being made in the punishment clauses,” the chief minister said while introducing the bill.
The Act prohibits conversion by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement, marriage or any fraudulent means. Any marriage for the sole purpose of conversion is declared ''null and void''under Section 5 of the Act.
The Himachal Pradesh law requires that anyone seeking to convert will give a month’s notice to the district magistrate that they are changing their religion on their own.