Punjab Assembly Defers 'Religious Texts Desecration Bill', To Be Reintroduced After 6 Months
Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): During the special session of the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, the Anti-Sacrilege Bill 2025 related to the insult of religious texts was introduced in the House. There was a lot of debate in the Parliament regarding this bill. After which this bill could not be passed in the Punjab Assembly.
On the proposal of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, it was sent to the Select Committee. After which the Select Committee will now work on this bill and take opinion from all religious organizations and people. A time period of 6 months has been set for this. After this, this bill will be presented again in the assembly. In this bill, there is a provision of punishment ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment for disrespecting the scriptures of all four religions. CM Mann said that this should not be called a Namoshi (insult or defamation) bill. This is historic and important.
Shiromani Akali Dal's support to the bill
Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manpreet Ayali said that apart from Shri Guru Granth Sahib, there are other religious scriptures too, which should also be respected and honoured. They should not be disrespected. We will pass this law and it should also be passed in the Parliament. For this, all the parties should unite and get the law passed.
Congress raised questions
Leader of the opposition party Congress in the Assembly, Pratap Singh Bajwa said that such bills require in-depth study. There is no mention of scripture theft in this. It states that no officer below the level of DSP will investigate the matter, but there should be a fixed time of 30 days for the investigation. He said- If the investigation is not complete, then the SSP level should have the right to extend the time by 15 days. After this, the DGP should have the right to give permission to extend the investigation. If the investigation is found to be wrong, then action should be taken against the officer. If any religious demonstration is public, then bullets should not be fired there.
Let us tell you that the purpose of this bill is to ensure that no one can disrespect or misbehave with our religious scriptures. Whether it is 'Sri Guru Granth Sahib', 'Bhagvad Gita' or 'Bible' or 'Quran', this bill was introduced in the House to maintain their dignity and respect.
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