Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday, 23 May, said that the new anti-conversion law will not come in the way of the state's growth.
Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot had given his assent to the anti-conversion ordinance on 17 May.
The bill (now act), titled 'Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill 2021,' seeks to prohibit conversion from one religion to another by means that it lists as fraudulent.
Bommai said, "It has nothing to do with investment, nothing to do with growth story. For last four quarters, lot of other issues, domestic issues, are there. Which state doesn't have domestic issues, one way or another. But the confidence of the investor, both outside the country and inside, is so huge that it has nothing to do with that," NDTV reported.
The anti-conversion law has been strongly opposed by the Congress, among others, stating that the Constitution gives every citizen the freedom to practise, preach, and propagate his faith and any law banning religious conversion will violate the Constitution.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh have also implemented the law.
Bommai added that the state is keen in manufacturing semiconductors and that it has the ecosystem in place.
He was further quoted as saying, "The Prime Minister has announced incentives, we have also come up with a policy where further incentives are there. More than that Karnataka being tech savvy, it is a natural attraction for people who are in semiconductors to come to the state."
The chief minister also participated in a session on "soil extinction, climate change and ecological degradation" with self-proclaimed godman Sadhguru.
He added in a tweet, "The solution lies in linking nature to economics, i.e. eco-economics. Eco-budgeting has to be there in the balance sheets of all businesses. (sic)"
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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