Of late, various Church journals have been dwelling on Anti-Conversion Laws (currently prevalent in 12 Indian states) in view of the latest hearing in the Supreme Court of India on September 16, 2025, after a hiatus of two and a half years.

It is worth noting that there is no national or central anti-conversion law in India. To circumvent this, 12 state governments have enacted their own anti-conversion laws, whereas there is no such law in the eight Union Territories!

Euphemistically referred to as "Freedom of Religion Acts," these laws are designed to prevent or prohibit conversion from one religion to another – specifically from Hinduism (79.80%) to Christianity (2.3%) or Islam (14.2%), as per the 2011 census.

Research by the US Library of Congress shows that laws restricting religious conversions were:
1.    Initially introduced in the latter 1930s and 1940s by over a dozen princely states.
2.    Aimed to preserve Hindu religious identity.

After India's independence, Parliament introduced several anti-conversion bills. None were enacted. First, the Indian Conversion (Regulation and Registration) Bill was introduced in 1954 to enforce "licensing of missionaries and the registration of conversion with government officials."

This bill failed to gather majority support in the Lok Sabha. Then, in 1960, the Backwards Communities (Religious Protection) Bill was introduced. The aim was to check the conversion of Hindus to 'non-Indian religions,' namely Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism.

At present, 12 states have enacted anti-conversion laws to curb the change of religion (from Hinduism) by individuals or groups through inducement, force, coercion or any other fraudulent means. These states are: Odisha (1967), Madhya Pradesh (1968), Arunachal Pradesh (1978), Chhattisgarh (2000 and 2006), Gujarat (2003), Himachal Pradesh (2006 and 2019), Jharkhand (2017), Uttarakhand (2018), Uttar Pradesh (2020), Karnataka (2022), Haryana (2022) and Rajasthan (2025).

The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly passed the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, on September 9, 2025. The bill was introduced by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in February 2025, but a stricter version was passed in September.

Though Arunachal Pradesh passed the Freedom of Religion Act in 1978, it was never enforced. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu had announced in 2018 that the Act would be repealed. According to the 2011 census, Christianity accounts for 30.26% of Arunachal's total population, Hindus 29.04%, Sikhs 11.77%, Muslims 1.95% and 26.98% practise other religions. (Source: Northeast Now, February 24, 2021)

However, the BJP-led Arunachal Pradesh government is reviving the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 1978 and is currently in the process of framing rules for its implementation. To protest the government's move to revive the four-decade-old law, two lakh Christians in Arunachal Pradesh staged a demonstration in Borum on March 6, 2025.

It is questionable whether PM Narendra Modi's launch of the ?5,100 crore infrastructure project in Arunachal Pradesh on September 22, 2025, will put a lid on the Christians' demand for repeal of the 1978 Act.

Article 25(1) "every person has the freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion." However, this right does not include the right to convert forcibly. Supreme Court of India case: Rev. Stanislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1977.

Article 26 guarantees freedom to every religious denomination, the right to:
1.    Establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes.
2.    Manage its own affairs in matters of religion.
3.    Own and acquire movable and immovable property.
4.    Administer such property in accordance with the law.
Both rights are subject to public order, morality and health.

Key Aspects of these Laws
Prohibiting Coercion: The primary aim is to prohibit religious conversions carried out under duress, by force, through fraud, or by way of allurement, a better lifestyle, divine pleasure (promise of spiritual benefits, a better afterlife, or God's favour on conversion).
Notice Requirements: In most states, these laws include provisions for advance notification to the concerned state government (District Magistrate) of one's intent to convert.
Burden-Shifting: Under these provisions, the person accused of forcing or inducing a religious conversion bears the burden of proving that the conversion was legitimate and not carried out by illegal means.
Controversy and Criticism: Critics see it as a blanket restriction on the right to choose or change one's faith and a ploy to target/suppress minorities.

It should be noted that the basic assumption of these laws is that conversion is primarily achieved through inducement, force, or fraud. Therefore, the respective state governments have placed the burden of proof on the accused to demonstrate that they have not violated the legal provisions.

According to these laws, "inducement or allurement" means the offer of any gift or gratification, either in cash or in kind and shall also include the grant of any benefit, either monetary or otherwise. In the Haryana Act, "Allurement" also means education in a school run by any religious body, divine pleasure (spiritual benefits, a better afterlife, or God's favour as a reward for religious conversion) and a better lifestyle.

Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana laws place a ban on conversion through marriage. In Uttar Pradesh, this Act does not apply to one who "reconverts to his/her immediate previous religion."

Constitutional Challenges
Anti-conversion laws passed in the above states have been challenged in courts. In response to a plea by the Madhya Pradesh (MP) government challenging the MP High Court order, the Supreme Court of India stated on January 3, 2023, "All conversions cannot be said to be illegal," and that every individual has the right to choose their religion. The order restrained the MP government from prosecuting interfaith couples who get married without informing the district magistrate.

On January 30, 2023, the Supreme Court conducted a hearing on anti-conversion cases in various High Courts. On February 3, the Court sought responses from the governments of UP, MP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, and Jharkhand on petitions challenging the validity of anti-conversion acts. Then, the composite hearing of all these cases, which were pending in different high courts, took place on March 17, 2023.

The September 16, 2025, hearing was a sequel to the earlier hearings in 2023. Let's hope the hearing takes place regularly to put down the wild allegations of conversions by Christians, where the Catholic Church may not be involved at all.

In the face of the government's own statistics, which state that the Christian population has remained constant at 2.3% in both the 2001 and 2011 censuses, the anti-conversion cases against Christians do not hold water. The next census is likely to take place in 2026.

In view of the "essence" of other fundamental rights in Part III (Articles 12 to 35 of the Constitution on Fundamental Rights, which includes the Right to Freedom of Religion - Articles 25-28, and taking into account that there is no National Anti-Conversion Law, the Supreme Court might deem it fit to declare all Anti-conversion laws anti-constitutional.

India is a secular country where no religion should be given official patronage. In a truly secular country, people of different religions and faiths have the freedom to practise and follow their religion without any fear of discrimination. Anti-conversion laws have taken away this freedom and created fear and discrimination.

Recommendations
1.    Names of Western saints tend to evoke hostility; it would be better to choose Indian names.
2.    Nowadays, government agencies seek details of students from church-run schools in specific formats, with "Religion" being one of the criteria. We must eliminate such identifiers.
3.    Encourage the art of self-defence in parishes/cluster parishes to thwart extra-constitutional elements, for self-confidence and overall alertness. Ancient Buddhist priests & priestesses were adherents of this technique. The Drukpa nuns of Nepal are renowned for teaching this profound art. Turning the other cheek doesn't really help!