New Delhi, India - In A stern rebuff to its NDA partner, the Janata Dal(U) today decided to oppose any BJP move to ban religious conversions in Jharkhand, where the two parties share power.
A resolution released by JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, after the conclusion of a two-day national executive meeting of the party, took a wider view opposing any ban on conversions.
The party said the choice of religion was an individual’s “prerogative and a matter of basic freedom. India has a tradition of allowing everyone to propagate his faith. Religious conversions had been on in the country for ages. Therefore, it would be highly improper and undemocratic to ban conversion”.
JD(U) general secretary Shambhu Sharan Srivastav told The Indian Express, “It has come to our knowledge that the BJP is planning to bring a Bill in the Jharkhand Assembly to ban religious conversions...First, we were not consulted. Second, in case they move such a Bill, we will oppose it.”
Acting on BJP president Rajnath Singh’s directive, chief ministers of all states ruled alone by the BJP have enacted anti-conversion laws. Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda, however, cannot deliver unless he is backed by JD(U) MLAs and independents.
The JD(U) decision is a part of the strategy adopted by the Sharad Yadav-Nitish Kumar combine to get the party out of the BJP’s shadow and re-establish its identity as a secular outfit.