U.P. Assembly passes stringent Bill on anti-conversion law

The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday passed the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024 making the law stricter by providing for a maximum punishment of life imprisonment for those found guilty of marrying a woman by deceiving her and illegally converting her religion.

The Bill says that if a person threatens, attacks, marries or promises to marry or conspires for it, or traffics a woman, minor or anyone with the intention of conversion, then his crime will be placed in the most serious category. In such cases, there is a provision for 20 years imprisonment or life imprisonment. Under the amended provisions, any person can register a First Information Report (FIR) in conversion cases. Earlier, under the Unlawful Conversion Act, 2021, the presence of the victim, her parents or siblings was necessary in order to provide information or lodge a complaint, . The new Bill proposes that cases of unlawful conversion will not be heard by any court below the Sessions Court, and along with this, a bail plea will not be considered without giving an opportunity to the public prosecutor. The Bill has also made all the crimes under the amended Act non-bailable.

The Opposition attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the Bill, and accused it of trying to divert people’s attention with communal politics. “What else they can do? They are not doing anything new. These people are trying to divert the attention of the people through communal politics,” Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said, speaking to reporters outside Parliament. 

The Congress party alleged that the Bill was an expansion of the BJP’s agenda of hatred. “The government needs to provide logical facts over the amendments — is the previous Act not capable of preventing unlawful conversion or has the government failed to punish the guilty? The Bill, days after the Kanwar Yatra name-plate controversy, highlights the desperation of the Chief Minister to polarise the environment, hence implementing the RSS’ (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) agenda,” Shahnawaz Alam, president of the U.P. Congress’ minority department said.