On July 1, the Allahabad High Court remarked that if religious congregations where conversions occur are not halted, the current majority population of the country could eventually become a minority.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal made this observation while dismissing an accused’s bail plea under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Kailash allegedly organised an event in Delhi where individuals, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, were purportedly coerced into converting to Christianity. The accused contended that attendees willingly engaged in discussions about Christian faith and well-being.
In this context, the Court said that if such practice is allowed to continue, the majority population will eventually become a minority.
“If this process is allowed to be carried out, the majority population of this country would be in minority one day, and such religious congregation should be immediately stopped where the conversion is taking place and changing religion of citizen of India,” the Court said.
“Article 25 of the Constitution of India provides for Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion, but it does not provide for conversion from one faith to another faith…The word ‘Propagation’ means to promote, but it does not mean to convert any person from his religion to another religion,” the Court said.
Notably, the bench also observed that it has been noted in numerous instances that there is a widespread occurrence of unlawful conversions of individuals from SC/ST castes and other economically disadvantaged groups to Christianity at a “rampant pace” across the State of Uttar Pradesh. Thus, Allahabad High Court denied Kailash’s bail request, citing these points in their decision.
“This Court, prima facie, finds that the applicant is not entitled for bail. Hence, the bail application of applicant involved in the aforesaid case crime is, hereby, rejected,” it ordered.
Advocate Saket Jaiswal represented the accused. Additional Advocate General PK Giri and Additional Government Advocate Sunil Kumar represented the State.
Cases of Illegal conversions are increasing every day. It is observed that by adopting wrong means, there are Christian missionaries and Islamists who covertly practice illegal conversion of the majority Hindu population.
