The enactment of anti-conversion laws across multiple states in India raises fundamental concerns about religious freedom and the selective targeting of Christian evangelicals. Currently, these laws exist in Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, under the guise of \u201cFreedom of Religion Acts.\u201d Ostensibly, they aim to curb religious conversions that occur through coercion, fraud, inducement, or allurement. However, their selective enforcement reveals an underlying bias-while they apply when Hindus convert to Islam or Christianity, they do not apply when individuals \u201creturn\u201d to Hinduism, often under organized programs such as Ghar Wapsi. In the northeast, Arunachal Pradesh was the first state to implement an anti-conversion law through the Freedom of Religion Act, 1978, which prohibits conversions perceived as forced or induced. More recently, the Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP) has been lobbying for the full implementation of this legislation, claiming it is necessary to protect indigenous traditions. The state\u2019s Chief Minister, Pema Khandu, had revived the debate in December last year when he asserted that the law was dormant. After the law was revived with backing from those who have made anti-religious minority as right, Kandu said it is not intended to target any religious group but to safeguard local customs. A stark contrast can be witnessed in the Christian-majority and secular West, where religious leaders of various faiths-including Hindu gurus and Muslim imams-are free to propagate their beliefs without fear of legal repercussions. In the West no one demands legislation to restrict religious propagation because these societies recognize conversion as a matter of personal choice. The phobia against Christianity is a willfully being misunderstood. Contrary to the claims of right-wing nationalist groups, Christianity has never been a dominant force in India, historically Christianity has deep roots in India, dating back to around 100 AD with the arrival of Syrian Christians in Kerala. Even during the British colonial period, the Christian population never exceeded 3% of the total population. Today, despite the BJP and its affiliated organizations-such as the RSS and VHP-portraying Christian conversion as a demographic threat, official data from the Census of India tells a different story. While the BJP claims that the Christian population grew from 2.53% in 1981 to 2.61% in subsequent years, the actual census figures indicate a decline-from 2.45% in 1981 to 2.32% in 1991. Between 1981 and 1991, while India\u2019s overall population grew by 23.79%, the Christian population grew by just 16.89%. Furthermore, between 1991 and 1998, Hindu population growth stood at 2.5%, whereas the Christian population increased by a mere 0.008%. The Justice Wadhwa Commission of Inquiry, appointed by the Indian government, corroborated these figures, demonstrating that concerns over Christian conversion are largely exaggerated. Despite these statistics, the BJP and its affiliate organizations continue to stoke fears about Christian proselytization. Even when census data shows stagnation or decline in Christian demographics, the narrative of an alleged \u201cconversion conspiracy\u201d persists. In reality, these laws serve as a tool of legal harassment, disproportionately affecting Christian evangelicals while ignoring conversions to Hinduism. Ultimately, these laws reflect a deeper political and ideological agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom. If India is to uphold its constitutional commitment to religious liberty, the selective application of anti-conversion laws must be scrutinized and challenged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The enactment of anti-conversion laws across multiple states in India raises fundamental concerns about religious freedom and the selective targeting of Christian evangelicals. Currently, these laws exist in Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, under the guise of \u201cFreedom of Religion Acts.\u201d Ostensibly, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-473927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}