CURIOUS APRIL 2021

MP govt notifies Freedom of Religion Act, 2021

The Madhya Pradesh government has notified its Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 on March 27, thus making the law
operative in the state. The law was initially passed as an ordinance on December 27, 2020.

The law, along with similar laws passed by states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, has been
challenged before the Supreme Court by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), SabrangIndia’s sister organisation. All
four laws have been challenged on grounds that it is discriminatory, anti-women, and contravenes the right to privacy
and personal liberty of citizens by criminalising interfaith unions. Thus, CJP has prayed for the Uttarakhand Freedom
of Religion Act (2018), Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, Madhya
Pradesh to Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020 and Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019 to be declared
anti-Constitutional and struck down.

About the law

The MP Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 places a burden on individuals to justify their personal decisions to the State
authorities throttling their Right to Life and Personal Liberty, Dignity, Freedom of Conscience and Choice. CJP
secretary and human rights defender Teesta Setalvad explained, “Such laws need a challenge. Already the spectre of
‘Love Jihad’ an illusory concept has caused unimaginable misery, led to violence and intimidation by police and non
state actors. ‘Laws’ that impinge on privacy, freedoms, autonomy and violate principles of equality and non
discrimination have no place in 21st century ‘free India’. More than anything else, they are anti-women as they
discriminate against women denying them all agency.”

The MP Act has a unique definition of “conversion” which states that “conversion” means renouncing one religion and
adopting another; but the return of any person already converted to the fold of his parental religion shall not be deemed
conversion. It also has an additional sub-section that such conversions, carried out in contravention of this provision
“will be deemed null and void”.

The Act requires an individual to give a declaration 60 days in advance to the District Magistrate that conversion is
being done without any force, coercion, undue influence or allurement. The religious priest/convertor is required to
give a similar notice 60 days in advance.

The Act also has a provision about who can file a complaint: Person who is converted by “misrepresentation, force,
undue influence, coercion, inducement (or allurement) or by any fraudulent means or by marriage”; or his parents or
siblings can file written complaint to the police and any other person who is related to him by blood, marriage or
adoption, guardianship or custodianship can also complain but with the leave of the court.

The Act makes a special provision for inheritance and maintenance rights. The provisions state that notwithstanding
provisions under section 6 (declaring marriages null and void) and decision of court under section 7 (petition for
declaring marriage null and void), any child born out of such marriage will be deemed legitimate and succession to
property will be deemed as per religion of the father. It also states that the woman and the child will also be entitled to
maintenance as per Chapter IX of the CrPC.

VIJETHA IAS ACADEMY

ADDRESS: 7/50, II FLOOR, NEAR ROOP VATIKA, SHANKAR ROAD, OLD RAJENDAR NAGAR, NEW DELHI — 110060
HOTLINE: 011- 42473555, 9650852636 , 7678508541 , DATABASE: WWW.VIJETHAIASACADEMY.COM
 CURIOUS APRIL 2021

Freedom of Religion and Christian minorities in India

In the recently released report, Freedom House downgraded India from free to partly free due to the atmosphere of
intolerance, treatment of journalists, protestors and religious minorities. The events of March 19, at Jhansi station more
than reflect this fact. On March 19, two nuns belonging to Sacred Heart congregation, who were travelling from Delhi
to Odisha with two postulants, were forced to de-board the train. Some Bajrang Dal/ABVP types alleged that the nuns,
who were in their usual habit (nun’s uniform), were taking the girls for conversion. These vigilantes asked for Identity
cards and religion of the teenaged postulants and the circulating video shows they were aggressive in their tone all
through.

The postulants said that they are Christians and intend to become nuns. The police were brought in and four of these
women were taken away by police, they were forced to de-board the train. They were permitted to travel again the next
day after the intervention from the Bishop’s House. The frightening incident where the women had to face the male
vigilantes and the male police personnel has sent the shock wave all around. A statement issued by Kerala Catholic
Bishops Conference (KCBC) stated that nuns were taken into custody without any reason and humiliated. The KCBC
also demanded suitable action against those who harassed the women. As the nuns are from his state, Kerala Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to the Home Minister Amit Shah demanding intervention from him. Shah, who is
incidentally facing elections in Kerala, has promised to look into the matter.

The ABVP/Bajrang Dal activists were quoting the UP anti conversion law and intimidating the women. Instances of
‘activists’ indulging in such actions have been increasing over the last few years. The sense of impunity is seeping in
deep into these groups as they have seen that those indulging in such crimes are not only treated with kid gloves but
often catch the eye of top leaders and are duly rewarded. While this incident has come to light; many priests have been
facing similar problems for quite some time. ‘Persecution Relief’ report (2019) points out “The frequency of attacks on
Christian’s gatherings is escalating to heights especially during Sunday morning worship service and house prayer
meetings.

Pastors and congregation members are beaten, sometimes so badly that they break their legs, vandalise the
churches and the Hindu fundamentalists make reports to the police that these Christians are converting the people to
Christ. Hundreds of Christians are being imprisoned on false charges of converting Hindus to Christianity.”

The ‘Freedom House’ report mentions the attacks on Muslims prominently, as the attacks on Muslims are very glaring,
while those on Christians are generally sub-radar and reported less often. The very nature of anti-Christian violence in
India beginning in the decades of 1990s has been a bit different. The first major act of anti Christian violence was the
brutal burning of Pastor Graham Stewart Staines in 1999. Bajrang Dal’s Dara Singh (Rajendra Pal) who is currently in
jail was the one who mobilised people saying Pastor Staines was a threat to Hinduism as he was allegedly converting
the people on the pretext of treating Leprosy patients.

That time it was the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Lal Krishna Advani as Home Minister.
Initially Advani stated that it can’t be the work of a Bajrang Dal worker as he knows them well. The incident was so
horrific that the President of India K.R. Narayanan lamented that the “Killings belong to World’s inventory of Black
deeds.” Shaken by this, the NDA Government sent a top level ministerial team with Murli Manohar Joshi, George
Fernandez and Navin Patnaik. The team opined that the killings were part of the International conspiracy to destabilise
the NDA Government. At the same time Advani appointed Wadhava Commission to investigate the incident. Wadhava
Commission concluded that Bajrang Dal Activist Dara Sing, who was also participating in other Vanavasi Kalyan
Ashram, Vishwa Hindu Parishad type activities, was the culprit and that there is no statistical increase in the number of
Christians in the area where Pastor Staines was working.

Later, we witnessed the regular occurrence of anti Christian violence in Adivasi areas of Dangs (Gujarat), Jhabua
(Madhya Pradesh) and Odisha. Every year around Christmas time the anti Christian violence used to take place and the
peak of this was the August 2008 Kandhamal Violence in which nearly hundred Christian lost their lives, hundreds of
Churches were damaged or burnt and thousands of Christians were displaced. National People’s Tribunal headed by
retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice A.P. Shah opined that “What happened in Kandhamal was a national
shame, a complete defacement of humanity. …Survivors continue to be intimidated, denied protection and access to
justice” .

VIJETHA IAS ACADEMY

ADDRESS: 7/50, II FLOOR, NEAR ROOP VATIKA, SHANKAR ROAD, OLD RAJENDAR NAGAR, NEW DELHI — 110060
HOTLINE: 011- 42473555, 9650852636 , 7678508541 , DATABASE: WWW.VIJETHAIASACADEMY.COM
 CURIOUS APRIL 2021

The anti Christian violence has been preceded by a ceaseless propaganda that Christian Missionaries are getting huge
foreign funding, and is doing the conversion work through fraud and allurement. All Christian denominations don’t
operate on similar ground. There may be few who proclaim conversion to be their goal, but majority of the
denominations are not out for canvassing for conversion or allurement. Indian Christianity is very old. One version
telling us its beginning from AD 52, when St. Thomas arrived on Malabar Coast and set up churches. Since then many
missions are working in remote areas and also cities. Their primary work being in the sectors of health and education.
Incidentally many leading lights of Hindutva nationalists like Advani and Jaitley have been products of Christian
mission schools.

The major reason for this propaganda is to pose obstacles to the activities of missionaries in Adivasi areas in particular,
where these activities are giving succor to the sick on one hand and empowering Adivasis through the work of
education on the other. From the decades of 1980s the VHP/Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram has been focusing on the Adivasi
belt where Swamis belonging to these organisations have been active, Aseemanand in Dangs, Gujarat, Laxmananand
in Orissa, followers of Asaram Bapu in Jhabua, MP.

In these areas Shabri and Hanuman are also being promoted as icons of Adivasis and religiosity is being promoted
along with anti-Christian propaganda. It is this propaganda which forms the root of violence and it is the electoral
power at Center from last few years which encourages the vigilantes to do such acts as witnessed in Jhansi.

(The writer is a human rights defender and a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT
Bombay).

VIJETHA IAS ACADEMY

ADDRESS: 7/50, II FLOOR, NEAR ROOP VATIKA, SHANKAR ROAD, OLD RAJENDAR NAGAR, NEW DELHI — 110060
HOTLINE: 011- 42473555, 9650852636 , 7678508541 , DATABASE: WWW.VIJETHAIASACADEMY.COM