Various groups launched a petition calling for the repeal of all anti-conversion laws in India ahead of the February 14 schedule for the Karnataka government to discuss its own proposed measure.
The groups said the new anti-conversion law is unnecessary because the Indian Constitution has enough provisions to curtail fraudulent religious conversions.
“Wherever the anti-conversion law, ironically officially called Freedom of Religion Act, was passed, it became a justification for the persecution of the minorities and other marginalized identities,” read a joint statement signed by leaders of various sectors.
Among the signatories of the petition are Admiral L Ramdas, former chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy; Mallika Sarabhai, dancer and choreographer; Medha Patkar, a social activist; Anand Patwardhan, a filmmaker; and Mani Shankar Aiyar, a former federal minister.
They said attacks on minorities have grown sharply in recent years since the anti-conversion law was passed. The petitioners also called on people to join the campaign.
The petition was initiated by the National Solidarity Forum, a network of groups and individuals who started acting in response to the Kandhamal Genocide on the Adivasi and Dalit Christians during 2007 and 2008. Kandhamal is a district in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
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