Ghulam Nabi Azad said people convert when they see a religion serving humanity. (File)
Over the ongoing debate on the anti-conversion bills being introduced in states, senior Congress leader and former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said that if anyone is converting people, he is not using a sword adding that it is the good work and character of individuals which influences others to convert.
"If anyone is converting people, he is not using a sword. It is good work and character of individuals which influence others to convert. People convert when they see a particular religion serving humanity and not discriminating," Mr Azad said while addressing an event in Udhampur on Saturday.
His statement comes after Opposition in Karnataka alleged that the anti-conversion bill is being proposed in the state to "target a particular religion." The winter session in the state has witnessed strong opposition against the bill.
"No person shall convert or attempt to convert either directly or otherwise any other person from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage, nor shall any person abet or conspire for conversions," the Bill states.
Earlier, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said the proposed Anti-Conversion Law that the state government intends to introduce in the winter session of Assembly is only to prevent religious conversions by inducements. "Proposed law will not affect any religion, their practices and traditions that are guaranteed under the Constitution," Bommai had said.
Earlier in April this year, Gujarat Vidhan Sabha had passed the 'Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2021' with a majority to bring more stringent punishment against forced religious conversions through marriage.
Gujarat had become the third state after Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to make a law against forced religious conversions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)