Belagavi: Taking a swipe at the opposition including the Congress, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said those opposing the anti-conversion bill are the ones who tried to implement it in 2016.
"Whether anti-conversion law should be implemented or not, the discussion in this regard is taking place in public platforms. Those who are opposing this bill, they wanted to bring it in 2016 because this is a necessity of the society. It is not a question of this party or that party.
"They tried it in 2016 but did not pursue it due to political pressure from the top," he said, addressing an event organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Bommai said the state government is determined to bring in this law to stop forcible conversions. "It is the responsibility of the government to respect the sentiments of the majority of the people.
"Therefore, my government is determined to prevent conversions, which not only divides the society in general, but creates walls within one house, between family members. I assure you that we will bring the bill to stop this menace of forcible conversions," he said.
In the race of religious supremacy, Hinduism has been looked upon with crooked eyes for centuries, Bommai said. "Despite this, we have been able to defend our culture, because we have strong views and belief systems."
At the same time, the humanitarian outlook of the Hindu religion is also its weak point. Because of this, conversions have been taking place from time to time.
"Earlier, conversions were taking place by way of conquering geographies, but now it is being done on the sly by inducements and allurement," he said. "No nation and religion tolerates conversions because it is a crime against humanity.
"Conversion does not mean that the objective is only to increase numbers, but change the mindset of the people. This will have a very big impact on society. Who are we? What is our culture? What are our rituals? These things are very important. If we do not have our cultural identity, then we do not have any existence," he said.
"The poverty and helplessness among us have been misused for converting people. To stop this, two things have to be done. One is to bring in a law and launch a massive social movement like Adi Shankaracharya did to unite Hindus from South India to North India to save Hindu religion.
"The government will definitely perform its duty in this regard. That is my responsibility and I urge the seers and people to start a massive social movement because people have tremendous faith in you and stop this menace of conversion to save our dharma." (UNI)
