Context:

Recently, there was a massive protest by the Sikh Community against the alleged forced conversion of a girl.

Universal Acceptance of Freedom of Religion:

• Every individual has a natural entitlement of religious faith and freedom of conscience, a right to adopt or abandoned any faith of his own choice.
• The freedom of religion and freedom of conscience has also been recognized under the international law.
• freedom of religion and freedom of conscience is fundamental right both constitutionally and conventionally.

Constitution on freedom of religion:

Indian society has nourished and nurtured almost all the established religion of the world like Hinduism , Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc. from its time immemorial.

• Article 25 (1) states, “Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion

Religious conversion means adopting a new religion, a religion that is different from his previous religion or religion by his birth.

Reasons behind religious conversion:

• Conversion by force
• Conversion by offering better life. It means offering economic incentive for one to come out of the religion.
• Conversion for marriage.
• Conversion to escape the rigid hierarchical system caste system.
• Conversion by free will or free choice as the tenets of other religion appear closer to person.
• Conversion to get reservation benefits

ANTI-CONVERSION LAW

• India’s Freedom of Religion Acts or “anti-conversion” laws are state-level statutes that have been enacted to regulate religious conversions.
• All of the laws seek to prevent any person from converting or attempting to convert, either directly or otherwise, another person through “forcible” or “fraudulent” means, or by “allurement” or “inducement.”
• However, the anti-conversion laws in Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh appear to exclude reconversions to “native” or “original” faiths from their prohibitions.
• Penalties for breaching the laws can range from monetary fines to imprisonment, with punishments ranging from one to three years of imprisonment and fines
• Some of the laws provide for stiffer penalties if women, children, or members of scheduled castes or scheduled tribes (SC/ST) are being converted.

Supreme Court Stand on Anti-conversion laws

• The Constitution of India guarantees the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate one’s religion under article
• The Supreme Court in Rev Stanislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh examined whether the right to practice and propagate one’s religion also included the right to convert and the court held “restrictions on efforts to convert are constitutional because such efforts impinge on ‘freedom of conscience’ and ‘public order’.”

Concerns

• Human rights organizations and institutions have expressed concerns over the years about the rights implications of, and lack of equitable treatment under, these state anti-conversion laws.
• State and national laws that do not comply with international standards of freedom of religion or belief, including Article 18 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

According to the USCIRF(United States Commission on International Religious Freedom), some observers note that “these laws create a hostile, and on occasion violent, environment for religious minority communities because they do not require any evidence to support accusations of wrongdoing.”

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