Rajasthan’s new BJP government will enact a new law regarding religious conversion.
Following the lead of other BJP-ruled states, the government of Rajasthan is drafting a new anti-conversion law that will likely generate a discussion between protecting vulnerable populations and individual freedoms.
Delhi, New The newly created Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan has declared its desire to introduce new legislation on religious conversion, indicating a major shift in policy.
The government of Bhajan Lal Sharma submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, claiming that although the state does not yet have a particular statute on religious conversion, a new law is being actively drafted. The state would scrupulously abide by current laws and any rules or directives issued by the Supreme Court until the legislation is approved, it continued.
“The State of Rajasthan is in the process of bringing its own legislation and till such time will strictly abide by the law on the subject, guidelines or directions passed by this Hon’ble Court,” the affidavit said. “The State of Rajasthan does not have any specific legislation with respect to conversion from one religion to another.”
The action by the state’s BJP government, which took office in December of last year following the Congress’s ouster, places Rajasthan in line with a number of other BJP-ruled states that have passed strict anti-conversion legislation, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The position of the BJP government is a stark contrast to that of Ashok Gehlot, the previous chief minister of Rajasthan, who had been an outspoken opponent of anti-conversion laws put in place in BJP-ruled states. Such laws, Gehlot had maintained, “will leave consenting adults at the mercy of state power,” stressing the abuse potential and invasion of individual freedoms.
The state has submitted the affidavit in response to a petition filed by counsel Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who has called for strong measures to be taken against forced conversions following reports of widespread conversions of people from disadvantaged social and economic backgrounds around the nation.
In 2006, while former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s government was in power, Rajasthan also approved an anti-conversion law. However, the governor and president’s consent was required for the law to take effect. Nonetheless, a set of rules released by the supreme court in December 2017 permits the state apparatus to investigate and grant prior consent for interfaith unions. The high court ruled that it was the court’s responsibility to provide instructions to “check the problem of forcible conversion of religion for the purpose of solemnizing marriage only” until the state government passed legislation.
Similar laws against illegal conversions are in effect in at least 10 states across the US. Some states have laws specifically prohibiting unlawful conversion, with penalties for convictions: Odisha (1967 Act), Madhya Pradesh (1968 Act), Arunachal Pradesh (1978 Act), Gujarat (2003 Act, amended in 2021), Himachal Pradesh (2006 Act, re-enacted in 2019), Chhattisgarh (1968 Act, amended in 2006), Jharkhand (2017), Uttarakhand (2018), and Uttar Pradesh (2020).
The renowned “love-jihad” law was passed by the UP government in February 2023, after an ordinance on the same topic was passed in November 2020. The law, which is regarded as one of the strictest on the subject, stipulates that conversion under marriage, deception, pressure, or inducement carries a maximum fine of ₹50,000 and a maximum jail term of ₹10 years.
In 2022, the BJP-ruled state of Karnataka also passed a bill of its own that included some of the toughest sentences possible. While the majority of states did not have minimum sentences in jail, the Karnataka anti-conversion statute stipulated that a minimum sentence upon conviction would be three years in prison. In Karnataka, the minimum sentence was three years, whereas in Uttar Pradesh it was one year. However, the Siddaramaiah government declared that this law would be repealed in June 2023 following the Congress’ victory over the BJP in the most recent assembly elections.
Anti-conversion laws have existed in India for a very long time, dating back to the time before independence. Although many princely kingdoms passed laws to limit missionary activities, the British did not. The Raigarh State Conversion Act of 1936, the Patna Freedom of Religion Act of 1942, the Sarguja State Apostasy Act of 1945, and the Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act of 1946 are a few instances of such laws. In addition, special legislation prohibiting conversion to Christianity was passed in Kota, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Kalahandi.
The Janata Party government of Morarji Desai introduced the All India Freedom of Religion Bill in the Lok Sabha in 1978, marking the last effort at federal legislation. But it was never brought up and abandoned following the overthrow of the government in July 1979.
The proposed anti-conversion bill is expected to reignite the discussion over whether or not such laws are necessary to safeguard vulnerable populations, as opposed to the risks to individual freedoms and the possibility for communal friction, as the Rajasthani government advances its legislative agenda.
