BENGALURU: The controversial survey of churches ordered by a legislature committee to curb unlawful religious conversions is likely to be shunned as assembly speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has constituted a new panel. The members are reportedly not keen on pursuing the matter.
Kageri on Monday constituted nine joint house committees, comprising select members of the assembly and council, and six assembly committees as the tenure of the old ones ended in November.
BJP MLA Kumar Bangarappa has replaced his party colleague Dinakar Keshav Shetty as the chairman of the backward classes and minorities welfare committee, which had ordered the survey of churches in October.
Former minister and BJP MLA from Hosadurga Goolihatti Shekhar had chaired the meeting of the committee in the absence of Shetty when it ordered the survey even as he had complained that his mother was converted into Christianity by allurement.
Interestingly, Shekhar and Shetty have been renominated to the committee, but sources said the new panel will not include the survey of churches in its report to be tabled in the assembly.
Panel yet to table report
While all other old committees have tabled their reports in the house, the backward classes and minorities welfare committee is yet to do so.
The BJP has reportedly decided to put the matter on the back burner as it has piloted the anti-conversion bill (the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill-2021), which was passed by the assembly and tabled in the council but yet to be considered for approval by the upper house.
“We have achieved what we wanted by introducing the anti-conversion bill in the legislature. A separate exercise of collecting information about unauthorised churches and their activities of unlawful conversion is no longer required now. So, the house panel will not pursue it,” said Shekhar.
However, a few Congress MLAs like Rizwan Arshad and NA Harris, who have been renominated to the committee, are urging that the findings of the survey should be included in the report as it revealed that there were no instances of forceful conversions.
“The findings of the Hosadurga tahsildar’s inspection, that found no forceful conversions in five churches, should be highlighted in the committee’s report before its tabled in the assembly. We are going to insist on it in the committee meeting,” said Arshad.
Meanwhile, legislative council chairman Basavaraj Horatti has deferred the nomination of MLCs to the joint house committee till the 25 newly elected members take oath on January 5.
“For now, the old members will continue in the committees. They will be replaced by the new nominees after January 5,” said Horatti. Former speaker KR Ramesh Kumar has been appointed the chairman of the politically significant public accounts committee (PAC) and BJP MLA GH Thippa Reddy has been nominated as the chairman of the public enterprises committee.
