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| Southeast Asia |
| Myanmar Mulls Religious Conversion Curbs |
| 2014-05-28 |
| [An Nahar] Myanmar is considering restrictions on religious conversion, according to a draft bill released in state media Tuesday, the first of several controversial proposals stemming from a rising tide of Buddhist nationalism. The proposed legislation, put forward by the ministry of religion and yet to be debated in parliament, would require people who want to change their faith to get approval from a specially-created local authority. "No one shall apply to convert religion with the intention to insult, defame, destroy or misuse any religion," said the report in the Myanmar-language newspaper The Mirror. It added that under the proposed law any violation could attract a two-year prison sentence. Religion has become a deeply sensitive issue in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where several outbreaks of anti-Mohammedan violence in the last two years have left around 250 people dead. The proposals on religious conversion are part of a wider series of draft bills being considered by government ministries and suggested by President Thein Sein after a campaign by Death Eater monks. A highly controversial plan to impose restrictions on interfaith marriage is also being considered but details have yet to be revealed. Rights groups have reacted with alarm to the proposed marriage curbs, saying they would threaten religious freedom and women's rights. Thein Sein, who took power in 2011, has presided over the former junta-run country's opening to the world and ushered in sweeping political and economic changes that have spurred the West to lift most sanctions. |
| Posted by:Fred |