The Congress government in Karnataka on Thursday has decided to scrap the anti-conversion law introduced by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
The bill was meant to prevent people converting to a different religion as a result of "allurement", "coercion", "force", "fraudulent means" or "mass conversion", and was adopted by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in December 2021.
“The Cabinet discussed the anti-conversion bill. We have approved the bill to repeal the changes that were brought in by [the BJP government] in 2022. It will be tabled during the session starting on 3 July,” the state’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hanumanthagowda Krishnegowda Patil said.
The then BJP government decided to introduce ordinance to give effect to the bill. The ordinance was cleared by Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on 17 May 2022. It then had to be approved by the Assembly within six months or it would cease to be in effect.
The bill was later tabled in September to replace the ordinance that was in effect and was passed by the Legislative Council. It was vehemently opposed by Congress at that time and party members even staged a walkout from the assembly.
Patil added that the decision had also been made to remove chapters on Keshav Baliram Hedgewar - one of the founders of the BJP's ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - from school history books which was added last year.
In addition to this, changes made by the BJP government in the school syllabus have also been reversed.
Patil also told the media that the Cabinet has also decided to make it compulsory to read the preamble of the Constitution along with the anthem in schools and colleges.
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.