Siddaramaiah says 'freedom of expresssion in danger' in the country

Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly.

 

Speaking at an event on December 26, Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister, said that “freedom of expression is in danger in the country,” and added, “It is difficult to courageously speak the truth now. Some people feel bitter when we exercise the constitutional right for freedom of expression but each citizen should fearlessly speak the truth without any fear”.

The senior Congress leader also took the opportunity to comment on the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, or the “anti-conversion” Bill that was passed in the Legislative Assembly last week. Siddaramaiah said: What are the reasons for conversion? You [the BJP State government] should find out who is provoking religious conversions and for what reasons. Instead of that, it is condemnable that this government has brought this Bill with the intention to target people who have voluntarily converted.”

He said, “Even I oppose forced religious conversions and there are provisions in the Constitution to prevent forcible conversions, so what was the need to bring in a separate law for this? All sensible people must oppose the “anti-conversion” Bill. It is being propagated that Buddhism, Jainism, Lingayat religion and Sikhism are all part of Hindu religion. This is a dangerous development as these religions were formed in opposition to Vedic religion and there are efforts to hide this information now.”

Siddaramaiah also spoke on the murders of Prof. M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh and said, “Dr Kalburgi spoke the truth. Even Gauri Lankesh also spoke truth to power. Both of them were murdered by communalists.”

Siddaramaiah was at Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru to launch the autobiography of Kannada litterateur Prof. S. G. Siddaramaiah titled Yerebevu.