The Karnataka government on Monday introduced a bill to protect illegal religious structures in public places before the state assembly. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai introduced the Karnataka Religious Structure (Protection) Bill, 2021, which was cleared during a cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
The move comes after the Karnataka government criticized the BJP and the opposition over the demolition of a temple in Mysore’s Nanjangud.
“It is considered necessary to provide security of religious constructions in public places constructed before the date of commencement of this Act in order to protect the communal harmony and not to hurt the religious sentiments of the public. In future unauthorized religious structures in public places and To prohibit construction,” the bill reads.
Under this law, illegal religious structures like temples, churches, mosques, gurudwaras, Bodh Vihars, Mazars etc. built in public places will be protected.
The Bill does not intend to protect the structures if the matter of removal is pending in the court and subsequently illegally constructed in a public place.
The exercise to remove illegal religious structures began on the basis of a 2009 Supreme Court order. While not much had been done for a long time, the Karnataka High Court slammed the state government – especially the chief secretary – for not acting on the order. It asked the chief secretary to give regular reports on the action taken in the court.
Over 6,300 religious structures have been identified as illegal across the state; The Chief Secretary had asked the Deputy Commissioners (Collectors) of each district to implement the court orders. Tehsildars were ordered to demolish one structure in a week in each taluk. The Chief Secretary was asked to file affidavits from time to time.
However, after the temple was demolished in Nanjangud, BJP MP Pratap Simha questioned the move. Following this, Hindu groups, other BJP leaders, Congress and JDS leaders questioned the intention of the government.
This forced the state government to seek show cause notices from officials in Mysore and advise them to go slow with the demolition drive.
The details of the bill and once passed, the legislation will be worked out to see how they can circumvent court orders.
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