Hindu seers' bodies raise questions on SC hearing pleas seeking stay on states' anti-conversion laws

New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Some organisations of prominent Hindu seers on Thursday raised questions on the Supreme Court for hearing pleas seeking a stay on anti-conversion laws enacted by various states, contending that it should have let the petitions be heard by the respective high courts first as the matter pertains to the respective state governments.

Addressing a joint press conference here, All India Sant Samiti general secretary Swami Jitendrananda Saraswati Maharaj vehemently criticised the move and announced the launch of a nationwide campaign to create a "public debate" on "whether the elected representatives of people will enact laws in the country or the judges".

"The seers have decided to take the issue before the people and create a public debate on this issue. Let this be decided by the people… It has to be decided within the constitutional system," he said, adding, "Illegal religious conversion is not an ordinary issue. It's about demographic changes and the country's unity and integrity." The All India Sant Samiti general secretary said that in a petition filed by Swami Dayanand Saraswati seeking liberation of temples from government control, the top court had said that it was a matter of state governments, and therefore, all these matters could not be heard together in the Supreme Court.

This comes days after the Supreme Court sought the stand of several states on pleas seeking a stay on their respective anti-conversion laws.

While issuing notices to the states, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran made it clear that it will consider the prayer for staying the operation of such laws once the replies are in.

The bench was hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of anti-conversion laws enacted by several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

Raising questions on the move, Swami Jitendrananda Saraswati Maharaj said, "Since these are matters of the state governments, the Supreme Court should consider these cases only after the respective high courts once decide them." "Furthermore, the circumstances of every state are different, and the nature of their laws and the grounds for opposing them are also different. How all these matters can be heard together is beyond anyone's understanding," he added.

He said the anti-conversion laws are also matters pertaining to the state governments which enacted them, and asked how they can be heard together, adding this raises many questions.

The Sant Samiti general secretary said that after Independence, many seers and eminent personalities in the country demanded a central law to prevent illegal religious conversions.

The Constituent Assembly had also discussed this issue, he said.

"But, the party ruling the country then believed that only state governments had the right to enact such laws. Consequently, several states enacted the Religious Freedom Acts," he added.

Swami Jitendrananda Saraswati asserted that the purpose of these laws enacted by the state governments is not to suppress faith but to prevent religious conversions done through "force, fraud and allurement".

"Now, the forces involved in illegal religious conversions and their supporters have challenged these constitutional laws in the respective high courts, but unfortunately, the Supreme Court has ordered a combined hearing of all these cases," he said.

The Supreme Court has sought opinions even from those states where no such law has been passed to date, he said.

Nirmohi Ani Akhara president Mahant Rajendra Das Maharaj, who is also general secretary of the Akhara Parishad, and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) joint general secretary Surendra Jain were present at the press conference.

Asked about the recent incident of an attempt to hurl a shoe at Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, Swami Jitendrananda Saraswati said violence and expression of opposition in an indecent manner can not be accepted in a democracy.

"Anybody from India going abroad is an Indian, be it a judge of a court or a politician. If an Indian citizen condemns India visiting abroad, then we will keep such a person in the category of a traitor only," he said, when asked about the comments of some prominent Indian figures during their foreign visits recently. PTI PK PK KSS KSS