Leaders in India's Karnataka State Press Government to Keep Promise and Repeal Anti-Conversion Law
The 2022 law is still on the books, one of the strict conversion measures passed by 13 Indian states over the past decade.
See where this is ›BENGALURU, India —
Christian and Muslim leaders held a joint press conference Oct. 29 in Bengaluru, the capital of India's Karnataka state, demanding repeal of the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022, International Christian Concern reported Nov. 2. Those present included Peter Machado, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Bangalore, and Mohammed Yahya Damudi, convener of the regional coalition Karnataka Rajya Muslim Okkoota.
The leaders also asked the state to reverse strict bans on cattle slaughter and set up ways to curb hate speech. They urged the Indian National Congress government to keep its election promise to scrap the law. Machado recalled that the party's manifesto said it “would withdraw the laws immediately.”
Karnataka passed the law in 2022 under a Bharatiya Janata Party administration, over civil society protests. The Congress government that followed has not formally repealed it and, according to media reports cited by the group, is wary of a backlash from Hindu voters.
Thirteen Indian states, most of them ruled by the BJP, have enacted strict anti-conversion laws over the last decade, the group said. Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh passed new laws or tightened existing ones. Petitions against the laws are pending in India's top court, where hearings have long been delayed.
What we don't know yet: The report gives no response from the Karnataka government, and Watchman News could not independently confirm the press conference in a second outlet.
