MP Assembly passes anti-conversion bill

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, MP chief minister

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday passed by voice vote a bill that checks religious conversions through marriage or by any other fraudulent means.

The bill earlier replaced the ordinance, cleared by the cabinet in December and promulgated in January, which had provisions of 10 years imprisonment in some cases and hefty fine for violators.

State Home Minister Narottam Mishra presented the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2021 in the House on March 1, and after a discussion, it was passed on Monday. "Many incidents came to light where minor girls were converted, married & made to contest Panchayat polls," MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said.

"Under the new bill, forced conversion of a minor, woman or person from Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, would draw a minimum jail term of 2-10 years with a minimum penalty of Rs 50,000," said Narottam Mishra, state minister, said.

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