Dengarkan

India’s Madhya Pradesh state just passed an amendment to the Religious Freedom Act.

The law requires people who want to change religion to provide a month’s notice to the government. The amendment also requires priests to provide details of the conversion... or face the penalties.

The government claims it’s needed to halt forced conversions.

Son Sai Kojoor, a tribal member from Son Ghara village, says last year he was approched by Christian missionaries and asked to convert.

“They said they could treat anyone suffering from any disease. I asked them to cure my mother who is ill, but they failed to cure her. Then they asked me to change my religion and become a Christian and said my mother would be cured if she converted as well.”

Son Sai Kojoor didn’t convert.

The Religious Freedom Act, which was passed more than a decade ago, aimed to curb the practice of forced conversion. Anyone who wants to convert is required to give a month’s notice. And with the new amendment, the priest involved must also provide details of the conversion. Otherwise he could go to jail for 3 years or pay a 1,000 US dollar fine.

“This amendment was necessary to stop conversions taking place by force and allurement,” says Umashankar Gupta, Home Minister for Madhya Pradesh. “There are people who were converting poor people by offering them money. This is going to stop such a practice.  ”
 
Christians constitute less than 1% of the total population in Madhya Pradesh.

And according to Minority Rights Group International, they have been the target of attacks and discrimination.

Christian missionaries have also been accused of converting tribal people and low caste Hindus with force and allurement.

In February this year, Father Isaac and his fellow evangelists were accused of forced conversions and beaten by workers of Hindu organisations.

But Atul Pratap recently converted to Christianity by his own will.

“I was a born Hindu, but came in contact with a Christian, who guided me to accept this true religion. I think it is propaganda that Christians are being converted by money in India.”

This year alone, there have been 9 reported attacks against Christians.

“Hindu hard line groups are going to use this amendment to the law for their own purposes,” says Anand Muttungal, coordinator of the NGO Christian Federation.

“Without conversion, they have already registered 36 cases against us in the past five years. Two of them have already been rejected by the court. This shows that we are constantly under threat.”

The Freedom of Religion Act, referred to as an anti-conversion law, has been implemented in six of India’s 28 states. Many say this has provoked attacks against religious minority groups across the country.

Ausaf Shahmiri Khurram is the president of the All India Muslim Committee.

“It is a total violation of  an individual’s human rights. One is free to accept any religion. How can a government or the administration stop someone from accepting the religion of their choice? This is totally against the Indian constitution.”

But Hindu nationalists want harsher laws to stop conversions for all religions.

“I think there is further scope for making this law harsher. Only then would we be able to stop conversions,” says Ashutosh Jasiwal is from Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a hard line Hindu organisation.

“These Christian missionaries through their money are converting innocent tribal people. We must support this new law. How can anyone be allowed to convert by taking money? The government must take every possible measure to stop these conversions.”

But Anand Muttungal from the Christian Federation believes the new law has only been passed to please the Hindu majority before the elections next year.

“There is no rational behind bringing this amendment this time. Elections are due this year and the sole motive behind this bill is to prove that they care much more about Hindus, and Christians are a soft target for the government.”