People of Arunachal Pradesh are demanding the implementation of the Anti-Conversion Law. Thousands of indigenous people took part in a protest rally in the capital city, Itanagar, on October 18, demanding the implementation of the 46-year-old anti-conversion law in the state. The protesters demanded immediate enactment of the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (APFRA), 1978, in the hill state.
The rally was organised by the Indigenous believes & Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP). Thousands of indigenous people from 27 Tribes and over 100 sub-tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, across 26 districts, participated in the protest rally. The protesters demand the safeguarding of the indigenous believes of the state, including the ‘Donyi-Polo’ believes system. The Doni-Polo system is one of the oldest belief systems followed by lakhs of people in the state, where Donyi represents the Sun and Polo represents the Moon. The indigenous believes of Arunachal Pradesh are under humongous threats from large-scale conversion by Christian missionaries.
Dr Emi Rumi, president of IFCSAP, stated that the protest aims to urge the government to implement the 46-year-old act, which has been idle since its introduction to the state assembly in 1978. The act received the required Presidential assent immediately after being placed in the state assembly, but successive governments have never implemented it in the state. As a result, the indigenous believes are facing tremendous pressure to convert, Dr Rumi added. He further added that if the act is implemented correctly in the state, the indigenous people will be able to preserve the culture, rituals and traditions which the people have practised for thousands of years. The huge aggression of religious conversion has made the indigenous people worried about their traditions and rituals.
While the Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) is opposing the act and has made several attempts to create public opinion against the act through public rallies, the IFCSAP claims that the act is only about giving rights to preserve the indigenous believes of the state to the people who are following it without any fear or external pressure. In September 2024, the Guwahati High Court instructed the state government to finalise the draft rule to implement the APFRA by October 25. The BJP government of the state maintains that the directives of the high court now bind the implementation of the act. Addressing the gathering, advocate and community leader S D Loda said that if the act is not implemented immediately, it is not too far for Arunachal Pradesh to become states like Mizoram and Nagaland, where almost all indigenous believe followers were converted to other religions. Dr Nani Bath said that the act is not against any religion but to protect and preserve the indigenous believe and rituals. He said that APFRA only prohibits conversion carried out in fraudulent means and by force or inducement.
The act recognises Donyi-Polo, Buddhism and Vaishnavism as some of the indigenous believes followed by many tribes and sun-tribes of the state and seeks to safeguard their religious and traditional practices. It should be mentioned that, according to 1971 census data, the Christian population in Arunachal Pradesh was less than 1 per cent, which rose to over 30 per cent in the 2011 census. The large-scale conversion has become a threat to the indigenous believes of the state, which are losing their identity with every passing year.
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