After pushback from legislators, including those from the BJP, the Goa government has decided not to introduce the anti-religious conversion bill in the ongoing three-day monsoon session of the state legislative assembly, said a BJP MLA on Monday.The state cabinet last week passed The Goa Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2026 and the proposed legislation was intended to be tabled during the monsoon session.AdvertisementGoa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting with several legislators on Monday morning, ahead of the assembly session. At the meeting, the legislators, including some BJP MLAs and an independent MLA who backs the BJP, are learnt to have opposed the proposed legislation.After the meeting, Michael Lobo, BJP MLA from Calangute constituency, said he felt the government acted in haste in having the bill approved by the cabinet. He said that in the meeting with the chief minister, a decision was taken not to introduce the bill in the ongoing assembly session.“The Bill will not be coming. We have to study (the bill) and take everyone into confidence. We need to know what the bill is all about. What is happening is wrong. Everyone’s religious beliefs are important, and there should be respect for all religions. Sooner or later, there needs to be a discussion on what’s good for Goa; things are moving in the wrong direction,” Lobo said.AdvertisementIndependent MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, who backs the BJP-led government, said the consensus in the meeting was that the bill will not be introduced during the session. Lourenco said the bill is in “bad taste” and questioned the timing of the proposed legislation.“There are no religious conversions happening in Goa, according to me. There is no data, there are no statistics. So, why is it required? Goa is a peaceful state, and people here have lived in harmony. So, why disturb this harmony? I have supported the government… but this doesn’t have my support,” Lourenco told The Indian Express.“Even in a few offences that have been registered, the cases have not been charge-sheeted, and have either been quashed by the courts or closure reports have been filed,” he said. “Our religious minority organisations are involved in helping the vulnerable sections of society. There is no evidence, nor have we heard that this has resulted in conversions.”Stringent provisionsThe draft anti-conversion bill, which was cleared by the cabinet, proposed stringent punishment including imprisonment up to life, a minimum fine of Rs 50,000 and compensation of up to Rs 5 lakh for victims for religious conversions carried out through “force, coercion, undue influence, allurement, fraudulent means or marriage”.It said that people intending to change their religion would have to submit a declaration at least 60 days in advance to the district magistrate, or an additional district magistrate, stating that the conversion is being undertaken voluntarily and without any coercion.It proposed that a marriage would be declared void if found to have been solemnised solely for the purpose of unlawful conversion. It said offenders involved in unlawful conversions, including religious figures such as priests, karmkandis, maulvis or mullas, could face imprisonment of not less than three years and up to 10 years.“In order to protect the gullible persons from converting one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by fraudulent means, the government has decided to enact a law to provide for prohibition of unlawful conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or fraudulent means, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto,” the draft bill read.The oppositionThe Opposition parties, members of civil society and the Catholic Church in Goa have called for a withdrawal of the proposed legislation, calling it a grave threat to constitutional freedom and communal harmony. In a joint statement, the Council for Social Justice and Peace and the Catholic Association of Goa said the proposed legislation “risks irreparably damaging that precious inheritance by replacing mutual trust with suspicion, and social harmony with surveillance and fear.”“The State must not use the prevention of coercion as a pretext for supervising personal belief, restricting interfaith relationships, or criminalising legitimate prayer, religious teaching, pastoral care and charitable service… Goa must not import divisive legislation merely because similar laws have been enacted in BJP-governed states,” the joint statement said.The statement said the provisions proposed in the legislation “will set brother against brother, neighbour against neighbour and community against community. They create incentives for relatives, political activists and vigilante groups to monitor private relationships, disrupt prayer meetings and lodge accusations against persons whose religious choices they dislike. A law presented as protecting harmony may therefore become an instrument for destroying it.”