When we hear the word “conversion” it reflects a non Bharatiya concept. Therefore, going to its roots, conversion is a Western concept and the very word comes from the Latin term. In literal word, conversion can be defined as a process where an individual or a group adopts new religious faith by discarding the practice and values of immediate religion by means of force, fraud, allurement, on pretext of marriage, cheating or any other similarly situated method. Therefore it has been termed as conversion and not adoption.
Victim of Conversion
For a long time, Bharat has been battling the disease of religion conversion. Therefore, anti-conversion laws were enacted so as to protect Hindus from deceitful means to get religiously converted. Religion is considered as the foremost foundation of the nation. Bharat is home of many religions but to misuse the freedom and constitutional values if any use or practice fraudulent means binding with deceitful character then the Constitution of India provides the state machinery to enact laws so as to protect the faith, one having in their religion.
Savarkar on Ghar Wapsi
Followers of any faith claim to have freedom to convert another to their own faith in whatsoever manner, as a concomitant right to freedom of propagation. Such a situation warrants the interference of the state to regulate the exercise of such freedoms in the larger interest of society. It is pertinent to quote here that Veer Savarkar was deeply concerned about religious conversion and believed that Hindus, who have converted to other religions, should be encouraged to return to their ancestral faith. He also believed that change in Dharma brought about by the followers of other religions causes a change of nationality in those converted.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati once said that religious conversion is an act of violence because it hurts deeply, not only the other members of the family of the convert but the entire community that comes to know of it.
Gandhiji’s Take on Conversion
Gandhiji (Father of Nation) believed that all religions were fundamentally equal and should have innate respect for them, not just mutual tolerance. He felt that a person wanting to convert should try to be a good follower of his own faith rather than seek goodness in change of faith. Therefore, various leaders in Indian society have opposed the very concept of the religion conversion taking the shadow of protection wrongly under Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Thus, the very question which arises now is that if it was a freedom provided under the Constitution of India then why state and history witnessed the enactment of anti conversion laws, enactment or introduction of any law reflects the curbing the crime. Therefore in short, conversion is not freedom but a crime in its very nature.
History of Anti Conversion Laws
The very thought of enactment of anti conversion law in India is not a new concept and travels to the British era. India is as we all know a land of diversity and anti-conversion laws are an age old practice in Bharat. During the British period, it has been witnessed that there was an increase in conversion through Missionaries. Therefore to curb the same, many Princely States had enacted anti conversion laws. Prominent among them were Rajgarh State Act, 1936, Patna Freedom of Religion Act, 1942, Surguja State Apostasy Act, 1945 and Udaipur State Anti Conversion Act 1946. Similar legislations were also promulgated in Bikaner, Jodhpur, Klahandai and Kota. It is important to mention herein that the first and foremost anti conversion law namely Rajgarh State Conversion Act, was enacted in 1936. It was aimed at protecting the religion conversion through preaching of Christianity and prohibited the entry of Christian Missionaries.
Thereafter, the second law, which was enacted to curb the issue of religion conversion, was the Surguja Apostasy Act, 1945. It was aimed at prohibiting the religious conversion from Hindu to Islam and Christianity by vesting the power to allow or disallow the same in the Darbar so as to maintain public peace and order. In Udaipur all religious conversions, if any, need to be registered. It is significant to note herein that most of these laws required individuals to register their conversion before Government agencies and minors cannot be converted also at the same time children of convert cannot suo motto get their parents new faith.
Anti Conversion Law in Post Independence Era
Since adoption of the Constitution of India, many attempts were being made to enact central legislation so as to regulate religious conversion in India, while enacting the law which can maintain the Freedom of Religion and also curb and prohibit the malice of religion conversion. In 1954, Jethalal Harikrishna Joshi, Member of the ruling party, introduced in Parliament the Indian Converts (regulation and Registration) Bill, 1954 providing for the compulsory licensing of the Missionaries and registration of conversion with the Government functionaries. It was aggressively opposed by Christians and the Bill was unfortunately dropped at the behest of then Prime Minister of India. Some important sections of the Act 1954 for reference:
Method of Becoming a Convert: No person shall become a convert, without making a declaration to that effect in such manner as may be prescribed or without performing religious rites or ceremonies with the aid of persons possessing license granted by the licensing authority for this purpose.
Notice by Convert: Any person intending to become a convert, as provided in Section 3, shall give notice thereof to the licensing authority in such form as may be prescribed
The licensing authority shall cause every such notice to be published immediately by affixing a copy thereof to some conspicuous place of his office and in such other manner as may be prescribed.
Registration of Convert: Every convert and licensee shall, within three months of the date on which conversion takes place, furnish to the licensing authority of the area in which the convert was residing at the time of his conversion, such particulars as may be prescribed, so as to enable that authority to enter the name of the convert in the register to be maintained for the purpose.
This important issue was even acknowledged by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel during the Constituent Assembly debate, when he said; “It is well known in this country that there are mass conversions, conversion by force, conversion by coercion and undue influence and we cannot disguise the fact that children also have been converted, that children with parents have been converted and that orphans have been converted.”
Hereunder, it shows that the Act of 1954 provides for the registration of the conversion and also the publishing of the notice. Also the register has to be maintained by the registering authority under Section 6 of the Act so as to keep the record of the conversion. Penalty provision has been provided under Section 9 of the Act. It can be seen that the need to prohibit conversion has been the need of the hour before and after Independence. Another Bill was introduced in Parliament in 1960 – namely ‘Backward Communities (Religion) Protection Bill’, which was aimed at checking conversion of Hindus to “non-Indian religions.” As per definition in this Bill, it included Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. It was soon rejected by Parliament for its apparent affront on specific religious faiths. Thereafter again in 1979, the house had witnessed another Bill so as to prohibit and curb the issue of religion conversion namely, Freedom of Religion Bill. It sought to curb inter-religious conversion, which was then opposed by the Minority Commission.
The house of Independent Bharat has time and again raised the issue of religion conversion and introduced Bills so as to curb and prohibit the same problem but it was time and again opposed by Christian Missionaries, Minority Commission but the problem still stood.
State Anti Conversion Laws
Despite several attempts, Bharat has no central legislation so as to curb the issue of religion conversion. The bills were not passed in Parliament due to lack of parliamentary support. At state level, however, legislation has been enacted for the concern issue, ensuring and regulating religious conversions that are carried out with malicious intentions. At present States, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Haryana and now Rajasthan have become 12 States that have enacted stringent anti conversion laws. These laws have various punishments for the conversions made or done by coercion, fraud, force, allurement or of similar nature. Tabular representation of current status of anti Conversion laws in various States of Bharat.
Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967
Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021
Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018
Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003
Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021
Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019
Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2017
Judicial History & Constitutional Validity
It is significant to address herein that the first anti conversion law, which was enacted by any of the States in Bharat was Madhya Pradesh. Known as Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swathanthraniya Adhiniyam, 1967 herein after referred as MP Act, it was duly penalised the conversion through force, fraud, allurement. Thereafter Orissa, now Odisha, passed Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1968 (“Orissa Act”) which additionally added “inducement” but subsequently on the later stage both these Acts were challenged before their respective High Courts. The constitutional validity of the Orissa Act was challenged before the respective High Court in the very case of:
Yulitha Hyde vs. State of Orissa, AIR 1973 Ori. 116.
Petitioner challenged the same on two contentions:
Act violating Article 25 of Constitution of India
State legislature has no legislative competence to legislate on matters covered by the Act
Speaking of the Fundamental Right violations, the Hon’ble Court held that restriction was duly covered by the limitation prescribed under Article 25(1) of the Constitution of India. Speaking further with regard to the legislative competence of the Orissa State Legislature, it was observed that the subject matter of the Act could not be said to be covered by Entry No. 1 of List II or Entry No. 1 of List III of the Seventh Schedule. Therefore Parliament has only power to legislate such subject matter. While observing the same, the Hon’ble Court held the Orissa Act ultra vires to the Constitution of India.
Thereafter constitutionality of the Madhya Pradesh Act has been challenged before the Hon’ble High Court on the similar grounds as of Orissa Act, in the very case of Rev Stanislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1975 MP 163, where it was held by the Hon’ble High Court in Para 16 of the judgement that:
“…..What is penalised is conversion by force, fraud or by allurement. The other element is that every person has a right to profess his own religion and to act according to it. Any interference with that right of the other person by resorting to conversion by force, fraud or allurement cannot, in our opinion, be said to contravene Article 25(1) of the Constitution of India, as the Article guarantees religious freedom subject to public health. As such, we do not find that the provisions of Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the M.P. Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam 1968 are violative of Article 25(1) of the Constitution of India; on the other hand it guarantees that religious freedom to one and all including those who might be amenable to conversion by force, fraud or allurement. As such, the Act, in our opinion, guarantees equality of religious freedom to all, much less can it be said to encroach upon the religious freedom of any particular individual…..”
With the same observation the constitutionality of the Madhya Pradesh Act has been upheld by the Hon’ble High Court. Thereafter both the orders of Orissa Act and MP Act have been challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and they were heard together in Rev Stanislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh
Contention: Right to ‘propagate’ one’s religion means the right to convert a person to one’s own religion. Right to convert a person to one’s own religion is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25 (1) of the Constitution
Court Observation:
“…….What Article 25 (1) grants is not the right to convert another person to one’s own religion, but to transmit or spread one’s religion by an exposition of its tenets. It has to be remembered that Article 25 (1) guarantees “freedom of conscience” to every citizen, and not merely to the followers of one particular religion, and that, in turn, postulates that there is no fundamental right to convert another person to one’s own religion because if a person purposely undertakes the conversion of another person to his religion, as distinguished from his effort to transmit or spread the tenets of his religion, that would impinge on the “freedom of Conscience” guaranteed to all the citizens of the country alike…..”
Subject to legislative competence, Court observation:
“……Fall within the purview of the Entry I of List II of the Seventh Schedule as they are meant to avoid disturbances to the public order by prohibiting conversion from one religion to another in a manner reprehensible to the conscience of the community. The two Acts do not provide for the regulation of religion and do not find any justification for the argument that they fall under Entry 97 of List I of the Seventh Schedule…….”
It is therefore can be witnessed and understand with the judgement of the Hon’ble Apex Court following with the Hon’ble Court observations that Orissa Act and MP Act are constitutional in nature and Article 25 of the Constitution of India provides freedom to profess, propagate and practice the religion but does not provide right to any to convert under the shadow of the Article.
Increasing Conversion Cases in Rajasthan
With the passing of time, Rajasthan, which is known for its history, has been targeted by evangelical and other religious forces as a hub of religious conversion either through prayers, force or fraudulent means. Cases of religion conversion were being witnessed in Rajasthan especially targeting tribal belts. Increasing cases of religious conversion by Missionaries have been witnessed in the past days. Missionary organisations have been offering money to people and providing facilities like installing hand pumps with the message of Bible written on them.
A woman named Suman from Ganganagar district said she was taken to Delhi for baptism and was given monetary help from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000. Similar cases have been witnessed in tribal belts of Rajasthan – Gadoli, Banswara, Jambudi, Shivpura. There are various other cases of religion conversion exposed in Rajasthan, which made the State to interfere as to protect the religion and to curb the issue of religion conversion in the state.
Kherthal: A victim named Manja Devi, committed suicide being tortured for forceful religion converion by in laws family. She was only 25 years of age. She hanged herself due to atrocities committed by the in-laws’ family, forcing her to convert her religion in Bharatpur. Before dying, she recorded a video where she accused her husband and his family for pressuring her to convert her religion.
Jhunjhunu: Missionaries converted many Hindus in the name of prayer ceremony by allurement in the name of employment
Kota (2023): Student committed suicide because of force and pressure by Missionaries to convert her religion in the name of free coaching.
Banswara (2024): Conversion of tribals in the name of free health checkup by Missionaries where they forced them to convert their religion.
Samod (2023): Forced Hindus were compelled to convert their religion in the name of free stitching machines by the Missionaries.
Bharatpur (2024): Detained 28 individuals, including 20 women, from a house following a complaint about an organised forced religious conversion event. Approximately 100 people were allegedly lured to attend the religious gathering, which was reportedly organised under the banner of a Church foundation.
There are several other cases which have been exposed in Rajasthan subject to religion conversion are provided below for the ready reference of the reader:
The list provided here above is an inclusive list as there are many cases witnessed in Rajasthan of religious conversion targeting Hindus. It has therefore become essential and important for the state to interfere and enact anti conversion law so that such issues can be curbed and forceful conversion can be prohibited under the constitutional scheme. Rajasthan Government has recently passed Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025 whereby unlawful conversion from one religion to another religion through misrepresentation, misinformation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, online solicitation or by any fraudulent means or through pretext of marriage shall be considered as offence under the law. The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly had passed laws to regulate religious conversion in 2006 and 2008. However, these did not receive assent. The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Assembly in February 2025
Brief Analysis of The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025:
Key features of the Bill:
● It prohibits religious conversion by force, coercion, misrepresentation, undue influence, allurement, marriage, or any fraudulent means.
● Prior declaration before conversion before District Magistrate after which District Magistrate has to conduct inquiry for the same
● Persons who can lodge an FIR against a forced conversion include the victim, parents, brother, sister, or anyone related by blood, marriage, or by adoption.
Section 5 and section 10: Penal Provisions in the Bill
Provisions of the Bill for regulate voluntary religion conversion:
Provision subject to Property Involved in contravention of the provisions of the Bill:
Legal Proceedings under Anti Conversion Laws:
The UP police has registered a total of 427 religious conversion related cases between January 1, 2021 and April 2023 in the State. In all 833 arrests have been made so far. Under the MP Act between January 1, 2020, and July 15, 2025, a total of 283 cases were registered across the State under the law. Recently, the first arrest has been made in Nooh, Haryana under the Haryana anti conversion law.
Conversion is a threat to national security as has been observed by the Hon’ble Apex Court of India and also by various other Hon’ble High Courts. Therefore it needs to be curbed down strictly by the States considering their responsibilities. It is significant to mention here that no conversion is facilitated by the Constitution of India. Therefore the Right to Freedom of Religion does not give anyone the right to convert any other person. It is also significant to mention here that the Ghar Wapsi has been exempted from the Constitution as no one can call it an offence for coming back to the ancestral religion when that individual was converted to another religion. When we look in the sight of every anti conversion law there is no mention of any particular religion and therefore calling it against any community is sheer propaganda and not a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
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