Das had repeatedly expressed concern over forced religious conversions +

RANCHI: The Jharkhand cabinet approved on Tuesday the draft of a bill that will ban religious conversion by force or allurement. The Jharkhand Religious Independence Bill, 2017, was approved at a meeting of the cabinet chaired by chief minister Raghubar Das “Anyone found violating the provisions of the bill will be liable for three years’ imprisonment or Rs 50,000 fine or both (sic),” cabinet coordination secretary Surendra Singh Meena told reporters.The bill provides for tougher action on forced conversions of minor girls and women from the scheduled tribes. “In this case, the perpetrator would face jail term of up to four years and penalty of Rs 1 lakh or both,” Meena said.The bill is likely to be introduced during the monsoon session of the assembly beginning on August 8. If passed, Jharkhand will become the seventh state to have a law against conversion by force or enticement, which already exists in Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh , Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.The cabinet’s decision to clear the bill seems to have stemmed from the figures of the 2011 census released by the Centre earlier. As per the census, roughly 27% of the state’s 3.5 crore population is tribal, 4.3% Christian and 14.53% Muslim. The census report said while the state’s Hindu population grew by 21% in the last 10 years, the Christian population grew by 29.7% and Muslims by 28.4%.In recent months,in the state and promised tough action against those behind such acts.“The innocent people of Jharkhand have been forcibly converted for a long time. Such religious conversions are eroding the society’s culture and core values. This is a positive effort,” the state BJP said in a statement while welcoming the move.However, reactions from the opposition and other quarters were mixed. While the church and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) condemned the cabinet decision, the Muslim community welcomed the move.“Existing laws are enough to prevent any forcible conversion. This bill has a more sinister design — through it, BJP wants to create a divide within the tribal community,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said.Pointing out that the church does not indulge in religious conversions by force, fraud and allurement, Roman Catholic church leaders said they were saddened by the government’s decision. Cardinal Telesphore P Toppo said: “Over the decades, we have been running many schools and colleges, healthcare facilities and hospitals all over the state, serving the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten. None of the millions of people whom we have served have been converted to Christianity.”However, Maulana Qutubuddin Rizvi, the Shahar Qazi, said, “I was always in support of such a law. Nobody should be allowed to convert innocent people by force or through enticement.”