Karnataka govt to scrap BJP regime's anti-conversion law; check details

Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister also said the Cabinet has decided to remove the chapters on KB Hedgewar -- one of the founders of the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- from school history books. The chapter was added last year.

The Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has come up with a decision to scrap the law against religious conversion introduced in the state by the previous BJP government. The proposal received the nod of the state cabinet today, said HK Patil, the state's Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister. 

In May last year, the law against religious conversion through coercion, misrepresentation, or allurement, adopted by many BJP-ruled states, was introduced in the state through an Ordinance or executive order. A bill to replace it was later introduced in the state assembly in September.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister also said the Cabinet has decided to remove the chapters on KB Hedgewar -- one of the founders of the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- from school history books. The chapter was added last year.

"Along with it, all the changes in school syllabus made by the BJP government have also been reversed. The Cabinet has also decided to make it compulsory to read the Preamble of the Constitution along with the hymn in schools and colleges," Patil told reporters after the meeting.

The Cabinet has also decided to introduce a new law on agricultural markets (APMC) that will replace the one enacted when the BJP was in power.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa also said that lessons on KB Hedgewar and Savarkar will be removed from current curriculum. The Cabinet has decided to provide supplementary booklets to all schools instead of printing new textbooks.

Speaking to reporters, Madhu Bangarappa said, "Syllabus on KB Hedgewar has been dropped. Whatever changes they (previous govt) have done last year, we have changed it and reintroduced whatever was there last to last year."