Religious Conversion in India

Why in News?

• The Supreme Court (SC) recently in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India case has expressed deep concern related to charity-conversion nexus stating that the objective of persons offering such charity need to be examined.
• The Bench also observed that there may be a freedom of religion, but no freedom for forced conversion.
• The article examines conversions in light of Mahatma Gandhi's views, in which he stated that all faiths are equally genuine, though imperfectly, and if he had the authority to regulate, he would have prohibited all conversions.

 

What are religious conversions?

• Religious conversion implies the abandonment of adherence to one denomination and affiliating with another. For example, Christian Baptist to Catholic, Muslim Shi'a to Sunni.
• According to the SC’s observations, forceful religious conversion or conversion by luring offends Articles 14 (equality before the law), 21 (right to life), 25 (freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practice and propagate the religion) of the Indian Constitution.
  • It is also against the principles of secularism, which is an integral part of the basic structure of Constitution.

 

Religious freedom debate in Constituent Assembly

• The Constitution makers while keeping Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 in mind repeatedly debated, religious freedom as a people’s right in the Constituent Assembly.
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948: Article 18 of the declaration proclaimed that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
    • This right includes freedom to change his/her religion or belief, and freedom to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
• The first draft of the future Constitution proposed to restrain conversion except by one’s own free will.
• The second draft, however, was to recognise the “right to preach and convert within limits compatible with public order and morality.”
• Eventually, the Constitution recognised the right to propagate, along with freedom of conscience and the right to profess and practice one’s religion as people’s fundamental right.

 

Right to freedom of religion under the India Constitution

• The Indian Constitution allows individuals the freedom to live by their religious beliefs and practices as evident by the following provisions:
  • Article 25: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion
  • Article 26: Freedom to manage religious affairs
  • Article 27: Freedom to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion
  • Article 28: Freedom to attend religious instruction or worship in certain educational institutions

 

How judiciary interpret freedom of religion?

• Ratilal Panachand Gandhi case, 1954: The apex court observed that Article 25 covered every individual’s right to propagate his/her religious views for the enlightenment of others.
• Shirur Math case, 1954: The SC held that it is the propagation of belief that is protected, no matter whether the propagation takes place in a church or monastery, or in a temple.
• Stainislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1977: The SC held that Article 25 does not grants the right to convert another person to one’s own religion but (only) to transmit and spread one’s religion by an exposition of its tenets.
  • The apex court further held that fraudulent or induced conversion impinges upon the right to freedom of conscience of an individual apart from hampering public order and therefore the state was well within its power to regulate and restrict the same.
• Ranjeet Mohite case, 2015: The Bombay HC held that the freedom of conscience of a person includes a right to openly say that he does not believe to any religion.

 

What are the measures to bar conversions?

• Pre-Independence:
  • The Hindu princely states of Raigarh, Bikaner, Kota, Jodhpur, Surguja, Patna, Udaipur and Kalahandi had enforced anti-conversion laws to prevent missionaries’ evangelistic (spreading Christianity) activities.
  • The Native Converts Marriage Dissolution Act, 1866 bought by the Britishers was repealed in 2017.
    • It was enacted to allow divorce for married Indians who converted to Christianity and were thereafter abandoned by their non-converting husbands.
• Post-independence:
  • In 1954 and 1960, Parliament took up for consideration The Indian Conversion (Regulation and Registration) Bill and The Backward Communities (Religious Protection) Bill,
    • Both laws proposed to stop conversion, however, both were dropped, due to lack of support.
  • Sections 295 A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code made forced conversion a cognizable offence which pertain to malicious and deliberate intention to hurt the religious sentiments of others.
• State laws: The state-level “freedom of religion” statutes, known as anti-conversion laws are enacted in 10 states namely UP, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, etc.
  • Odisha was the first state to enact such a law in 1967, followed by Madhya Pradesh in 1968.
    • Some of the laws made it mandatory to seek prior permission from local authorities before conversion.

 

What is apex Court’s opinion in the recent (Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay) case?

• Examining the intentions of charity: The SC said that it would examine hidden intentions behind religious conversions through allurement by offering food, medicines, treatment, etc.
• Differentiating conversions based on self-belief and allurement: The court also stated that conversion on the basis of a voluntarily felt belief in the deity of a different faith is different from belief gained through allurement.

 

What is Centre’s opinion on religious conversion?

• It is “cognizant of the menace” of forced conversions and will take “appropriate steps” to deal with it.
• It also submitted that anti-conversion laws are necessary for protecting the rights of vulnerable sections of the society, including women and economically and socially backward classes”.
• A neutral authority will decide whether the conversion is by allurement or a person is converting as a result of a religious or philosophical change of heart.

 

What more can be done?

• Religious freedom is the hallmark of pluralism and inclusiveness and is meant to advance social harmony and diversity. Therefore, while legitimate restrictions on this freedom are to be accepted, irrational and motivated intrusion into religious notions should be prevented.
• Uniformity should also be bought in the anti-conversion legislation by the Centre by framing a model law like Model law on contract farming, etc.
• People also need to be educated about the provisions and ways of forceful conversions, inducement or allurement, etc., and punishment against "fraudulent" conversions must also be raised to deter others from infringing on fundamental freedoms.

 

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Q1) Is religious conversion a fundamental right?

Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion”. It is a right that guarantees a negative liberty — which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom.

 

Q2) Which is the fastest growing religion?

Pew Research Center reported that Islam is the fastest-growing religious group. Muslims will grow more than twice as fast as the overall world population between 2015 and 2060 and, in the second half of this century, will likely surpass Christians as the world’s largest religious group.

 

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Source:  Supreme Court on charity and conversion: The answer may lie in the words of Mahatma Gandhi