New Delhi :  Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Secretary
General Nusrat Ali has demanded from Government of Gujarat to revoke the original
Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003.

Reacting to Gujarat government's recent
decision to withdraw amendment to the said Act, Mr Ali articulated that the
original Act should completely be eliminated as it affected the right to
freedom of religion and belief and it can be misused.

"A person should be free to adopt any
religion or belief with no intervention, and he or she should be provided
congenial environment for it," he asserted.

He called upon people to initiate wide discussion
on the Act to mobilise public opinion for some meaningful amendment to or total
revocation of the Act.

"Other states oblige a person who gets
converted by just informing the government, whereas in Gujarat one has to seek
permission of the government. This law actually serves to violate religious
freedom as well as the rights protected by International Agreements and the Constitution
of India as mentioned in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and in Articles 25 to 30 of the Indian Constitution and (UDHR)," the Jamaat
leader said.