Forceful conversion a matter of grave concern
India, Hindustan, Bharat – all signify that this great country is a land of great heritage and diversity, which extends as religious diversity with Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains – all calling the country home. Off late the integrity of our nation is put to test by people of divisive mindset. The Bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court presided over by Hon’ble Justice MR Shah and Hon’ble Justice Hima Kohli askes the Union of India to file an affidavit on the issue of forcible religious conversions in India, terming this as a very serious issue in the Petition preferred by Advocate and renowned BJP leader, Ashiwini Kumar Upadhyay.
Recent times are witnessing to the notorious re-emergence of the issue of forceful religious conversions. Keeping this in view, it is noteworthy that changing religion in India is a tedious and time consuming process involving numerous steps varying from Religion to which one intends to convert to. The Constitution of India under Article 25, guarantees freedom of religion to all the citizens, including the right to change one’s religion, thus no law restricts religious conversions in India apart from social barriers.
It is often observed that the issue of religious conversion is surrounded by tremendous controversies as majority of conversions evidently see Hindus converting to Christianity or Islam. In general, there have been reports of forced conversions which have been stopped from happening by various religious groups that at times have become violent. To understand the aspect of forced conversions, it is necessary to understand the steps typically required for conversion i.e. 1. The foremost step is of meeting the religious head of the desired religion. 2. Followed by studies of the religion 3.
The individuals must then formally renounce their old faith. 4. Finally, individuals ought to participate in rituals marking conversion to new religion. Thus, the religious conversion still is seen in a grey area in law and where lie many convert out of personal faith and their inclination towards the beliefs of another faith, which is understandable and remotely logical too, however, motivated conversion or forceful conversion is not uncommon. As it is with the unity in diversity being disturbed by fringe elements, India becomes a religious hotpot, thus adding fuel to the fire of religious conversion.
These elements attack the secular fabric of our country which is preserved by the motherland with strict adherence to right to freedom of religion as enshrined under Article 25 to 28 of the Constitution of India, but as it is a well established principle, every right comes with a bundle of duty. However, the rampant and nefarious fringe elements act to disturb the peace and harmony of our country which is the pith and substance of the observations by Hon’ble Justice Shah.
The conversions have been rampant across the State of Tamil Nadu, the memories of Meenakshipuram are still fresh in our minds when hundreds of Hindus (around 180 families) were converted to Islam by making false promises so induced by the so called educated youths. And now educational institute in Thanjavur harassing a teenager to such an extent that she preferred ending her life to converting to Christianity. The situation seems grim when one considers the case of educational institutions based out of Kanyakumari who not only preach Christianity but even make efforts and criticise Hindu Religious scriptures. Here, Kerala as an example, is the first state where the Love Jihad surfaced for the first time.
Going back to the Judicial comment falling from the Apex Court of the Land, it becomes of paramount importance to remind ourselves of the 2009 Judgment passed by the Hon’ble Kerala High Court wherein it quoted the Police Report which narrated horrific tales pertaining to the roots of Love Jihad tracing to organized efforts in that directions as early as 1996.
It is heartening when one observes this situation from a bird’s eye view. As one look at the huge data on conversion, which to gain political mileage is being manipulated as the minority question. And the issue of forced conversions is not restricted to the territory of our beloved motherland Bharat Mata, but it can be traced globally with the aggressive proselytizing tendency of those religions. Faith Based Organizations, controversially active in India, include Human Life International established in 2011 and Samaritan’s Purse which is active in both India and Africa and whose deep disdain for Hinduism in India is funded by both Republicans and Democrats in the US and is reportedly amongst the top ten recipients of the USAID funding.
Indian Government has been at heels in crackdown of foreign funded NGO’s and Faith Based Organizations, however, Parliamentary logjam instigated by the opposition parties have stalled the issue. The redressal to this colonial mindset of the forcible religious conversion has been attempted to be undone by several states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, etc. which have enacted anti-conversion laws.
This has left the so called secular forces in a limbo since the Hindu Organisations with Sanatan Dharma ideology have been strongly supporting the proposition as at the core values of Hinduism are fundamentally non-proselytizing being opposed to Christianity and Islam. So, also the efforts of the Government of India towards an affirmative action, have been acting as a deterrent in fraudulently walking people into the trap of conversion by luring them of benefits, since the Hindu’s of all strata belonging to economically weaker section by the pronouncement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the 103rd Amendment to the Constitution have been upheld.
It remains to be seen how Hon’ble Supreme Court judiciously deals with the issue when the Government files its Reply.
As on the previous date of hearing, the Hon’ble Court observed “This is a very serious matter. Sincere efforts are to be made by the Centre to stop forced conversions. Otherwise very difficult situation will come. Tell us what action you propose….since you have to step in.”
“It is a very serious issue which affects security of the nation and freedom of religion as well as the conscience. Therefore, it is better that Union of India may make their stand clear and file counter on what further steps can be taken to curb such forced conversions”, the bench says.
The Petition seeks stringent steps to control the fraudulent religious conversion by “intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits.”
-Akash Kakade
(The author is a Supreme Court Lawyer)
