India’s Freedom of Religion Act or “Anti-Conversion Act” is a legal state-level law governing religious conversions. Eight out of nineteen states enforce the law: Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand. Although there are some differences between the state laws, they are very similar in their content and structure. All laws attempt to avoid any person from modifying or attempting to reclaim directly or otherwise, either through “forcible” or “fraudulent” means or by “allurement” or “inducement. However, anti-conversion laws in Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh seem to exclude the repetition of “native” or “original” beliefs from their prohibitions. Violations of the law can result in fines ranging from fines to imprisonment for one to three years and fines ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 Indian rupees. Some of the women law gives for serious punishment if women or children or members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes are renovated.[1]
History of anti-conversion law-
Originally, during the British colonial era, Hindu kingdoms adopted laws restricting spiritual transformation. These national states have authorized laws in an attempt to preserve Hindu religious identity in the face of British missionaries. There were more than a dozen states in India. Many of the laws of the time contain the 1936 Raigarh State Transformation Act; the 1942 Surguja State Apostasy Act; And the 1946 Udaipur State Anti-Transformation Act.
After India’s independence, several anti-conversion bills were introduced in Parliament, but none were implemented. the Indian Conversion Bill was fulfilled in 1954, which sought to enforce “missionary licensing and conversion registration with government officials.” The bill somehow failed to garner a majority in the lower-house was refused by its members. The Religious Protection Act was enacted in 1960, to verify the conversion of religions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism to the so-called ‘non-Indian faith’ described in the above bill.
Ministers in the current government have expressed support for the national adoption of an anti-transformation law, which, according to several humanitarian organizations, is an attack on the secular values of the Indian Constitution. In 2015, high-ranking members of the ruling party called for anti-transformation rules. Two representatives of the ruling party proposed enacting anti-conversion bills in both legislatures to criminalize religious conversion without government permission. Nevertheless, the ruling government’s proposal to enact national legislation has hit a hurdle to the Ministry of Law and Justice, which warns against the change, within the constitutional jurisdiction of the states.[2]
The States currently has anti-conversion laws-
Over the years, the state government has enacted the “Freedom of Religion” Act to restrict religious conversions through force, fraud, or supervision.
Freedom of religion laws has enacted in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. Most of these laws prohibit religious conversion by force or assignment.
Some state has recently passed anti-conversion laws-
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh have passed anti-conversion laws that prohibit religious conversion for the sole purpose of marriage. Although the general features of the law are to declare such marriages “null and void” and to punish conversions without prior state approval, they differ in several ways:
Preliminary notice:
The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020, which repeals the 1968 Act, requires a district magistrate to “declare a tendency to convert” before convert0 days for the conversion to be legal, after which couples of different religions can be legally married.
Prohibition of illegal conversion of religious ordinances in Uttar Pradesh, 2020 also requires 60 days’ notice. However, the magistrate should also conduct a police investigation to determine the real trend behind the conversion.
A 30-day prior declaration is required to convert the Himachal Pradesh Freedom and Religion Act, 2019, which repealed the 2006act law.
It should be noted that in 2012, the Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed the old version of the law as unconstitutional and a violation of fundamental rights.
How are anti-conversion laws enforced-
According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2016 and 2018 reports, very few arrests or lawsuits were filed under anti-conversion law.
However, it was found that these laws created a hostile and sometimes violent environment for religious minorities, as they did not need any evidence to support injustice by the accused. Because of these laws, religious minority leaders and followers faced fear and arrest. More than a month after the UP law was passed, those people were prosecuted in 16 cases involving proselytizing for love or marriage between Hindus and Muslims. Among them, 54 people including friends and family members of the main accused were arrested. The main accused in all these cases are Muslims.
The law against the transformation of the judiciary-
High Court:
The judgment of the Allahabad High Court on September 2020 was the basis of the newly enacted UP Ordinance. The court ruled that the conversion was illegal only for marriage. It should be noted that this case involves the protection of the applicant’s application from parents who oppose the conversion.
Uttarakhand HC, in November 2017, shamefully contained these conversions in the interest of marriage and called on the government to enact legislation against this conversion. It is the basis of the Uttarakhand Independence Religion Act, 2018 – the first anti-conversion law listed as “marriage”, among other anti-conversion frauds. However, this law does not prevent conversion for the sole purpose of marriage. Rather, it prohibits marriage “for the sole purpose of conversion” by declaring it null and void.
Rajasthan HC, in December 2017, provided guidelines that will remain in effect until state law is enacted to prevent “forced conversions”. It states that there is an urgent need to protect the constitutional right to freedom of religion. Guidelines for each conversion order will be provided to the district magistrate and the marriages involved in the conversion should take place at least one week after the conversion. The anti-conversion bill passed by the state failed to get the president’s consent.
Supreme Court:
Stenisulus judgment
In the Stanislaus judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the anti-conversion laws in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
In the ruling, the apex court said the laws were aimed at preventing public order by prohibiting religious conversions “in a manner that is reprehensible to the conscience of the community” and “forcible conversion may cause chaos”.
It states that the right to proselytize, practice and propagate religion in public is not included in the opinion expressed in Article 25 of the Constitution.
Article 25 states that all persons have the right to freedom of conscience and practice, practice, and propagate their religion freely.
The right to preach includes the right to express one’s religious beliefs or one’s religious beliefs. However, this does not include the right to convert another person to one’s religion.
The forced conversion went against Article 25 because it imposed “freedom of conscience”.
The apex court further said that conversion is not a fundamental right and should be regulated by the state.
What is the argument in favor of anti-conversion laws-
A committee headed by Chief Justice Niyogi of Nagpur found that religious conversions were not “completely voluntary”.
Forced proselytizing will involve unjust crimes, such as wrongful imprisonment (Section 342 IPC), intimidation (Section 506 IPC), kidnapping (Section 359-369 IPC), assault (Section 352 IPC), the threat of divine punishment (Section 352 IPC). Section 508 IPC)) etc.
Anti-conversion laws protect human rights by preventing marriage fraud, forgery, or deceptive environments.
These laws provide legal remedies for those who have been converted silently or under duress.
What are the arguments against the recently adopted anti-conversion laws-
Against UP Ordinance:
The law is criticized for vague terms such as “unwanted influence”, “coercion”, “all events or marriages” to determine the basis for criminalizing conversions.
It is also difficult to determine whether the conversion was really for marriage.
The interpretation of these thematic terms is entirely up to the judge to consider.
Although this ordinance is not directly unconstitutional, it is likely to be abused.
The law also criminalizes “mass conversion” – an event where two or more people are converted. This is considered to be a more serious incident. This is arbitrary and unreasonable because it prevents the family as a whole from converting to the religion of their choice. This offense will attract 3-10 years imprisonment.
It also coined the term “converter of religion”, although no converter or witness is required to convert. By introducing this idea artificially, there is a possibility of harassing a large number of people.
The law does not criminalize re-conversion. The re-conversion may be due to one’s own will or persuasion by someone else. This provision licenses some individuals/organizations to do so if they want to bring the converted people back into the fold of the “parent” religion. Such acts would be described by this law as “encouragement, belief or conspiracy”.
The rationale for compensating ‘victims of conversion’ is not provided by law.
The burden of proving this conversion to be ‘valid’ falls on the person who ’caused’ the conversion. This provision ignores the opinions of those who have converted and focuses only on the “converter”.
By Moumita Muhuri
3rd year of Shyambazar Law College.
[1] State Anti-conversion Laws in India-https://www.loc.gov/law/help/anti-conversion-laws/india.php#:~:text=Summary, Pradesh%2C%20Jharkhand%2C%20and%20Uttarakhand.
[2] State Anti-Conversion Laws in India – https://blog.ipleaders.in/state-anti-conversionlaws-india/.
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