anti-conversion law – FoRB in Full

India’s ‘freedom of religion’ laws have nothing to do with preventing forced conversions

Posted on 15/09/202503/10/2025 by cswpress in Asia, India

On 20 August India’s Uttarakhand state government introduced significant amendments to its controversial anti-conversion law. Building on the original 2018 legislation and an initial round of amendments made in 2022, the Freedom of Religion and Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion (Amendment) Bill, 2025, imposes harsher punishments on a range of offences.

Individuals convicted of using allurement, misrepresentation or fraud to induce conversion now face anywhere from three to ten years in prison and a minimum fine of 50,000 rupees (approximately GBP £420). If the case involves a minor, a woman, a person with a disability, or a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, these penalties are increased to five to 14 years in prison and a fine of at least 100,000 rupees (GBP £840).

‘Mass conversions’ and those involving foreign funding are punishable with seven to 14 years imprisonment and a minimum fine of 100,000 rupees, while punishments for cases involving threats, assault, human trafficking, or marriage as a pretext for conversion can extend to 20 years or life imprisonment, along with fines covering the victim’s medical and rehabilitation costs.

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Attacked, harassed and ostracised: Christians in India continue to suffer as the country slides further still into ethno-religious nationalism

Posted on 24/02/202224/02/2022 by cswpress in Asia, India

Last week, the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) released its annual report on Hate and Targeted Violence against Christians in India in 2021. It documented 505 individual incidents of violence across the country in 2021, including three murders, as well as other forms of harassment against Christians including disruption to worship services, social boycott and ostracisation, and forced conversion to Hinduism.

The report states: “No denomination – whether organized or a lonely independent worshipping family or neighborhood group – none has been spared targeted violence and intense, chilling hate, the worst seen since the general election campaign of 2014. The year 2021 saw calls for genocide and threats of mass violence made from public platforms, and important political and religious figures on the stage.”

Reverend Vijayesh Lal, General Secretary of the EFI, spoke to CSW about various issues facing Christians in the country today:

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Imran Khan: Defender of Islam or political opportunist?

Posted on 01/11/202112/11/2021 by cswpress in Asia, Pakistan

On 17 September 2021, less than a month after seizing control of the country, the Taliban effectively banned girls from secondary schools in Afghanistan after they ordered schools to resume classes for boys only.

The move marked a realisation of fears that had been raised ever since the Taliban regained power, and was met with widespread and routine international condemnation from countries and human rights organisations alike. One of the more surprising critics however was Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who told the BBC that preventing women from accessing education would be ‘un-Islamic’.

The reason for such surprise is that while Prime Minister Khan has expressed somewhat mixed feelings regarding the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, he has encouraged the international community, and particularly the United States, to recognise their authority. In addition, his own government has entered into talks with the organisation, and Khan himself has pledged to ‘forgive’ members of the group if reconciliation is achieved.

Developments such as these already start to make Khan’s criticisms of the Taliban ring hollow, but they are made even more interesting when considered in conjunction with his own rhetoric regarding what is and isn’t un-Islamic in his own country.

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Conversion as an act of self-liberation: A history of the Dalit community in India

Posted on 30/06/202105/07/2021 by cswpress in Asia, India

On 7 June 2020, a Dalit Christian man named Bura Singh, his wife and daughter were conducting prayers in their house in Madhya Pradesh, India, when police officials barged in and beat them up.

For Bura, his conversion to Christianity was a matter of faith. For many other Dalits like him, however, conversion to a religion other than Hinduism is not just a matter of faith, it’s also a means – the only means – to escape the centuries-old harassment and injustice meted out to them under the caste system.

Historically, and even today, Dalits who choose to convert to another religion are socially boycotted and harassed. But to understand why there is so much opposition to Dalit conversion by the upper castes, we must understand the origins of the caste system and the history of the Dalit struggle.

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राष्ट्र जीतने के लिए घर वापसी का सहारा

Posted on 26/04/202118/08/2025 by cswpress in Asia - Hindi, India, India - Hindi

२०१४, में जब भारतीय जनता पार्टी सत्ता में आई, तब विश्व हिन्दू परिषद् के पूर्व अध्यक्ष प्रवीन तोगड़िया ने कहा कि उनकी संस्था भारत को १००% हिन्दू देश बनाने में कार्य करती रहेगी। पिछले छह वर्षों में हिंदूवादी राष्टवाद के दर्शन को लेकर बयानबाज़ी और भी तेज़ होती जा रही है। उन पुराने कथनों के आधार पर कि सभी भारतीय अपने धर्मों और आस्थाओं के बावजूद हिन्दू है, मुस्लिम लव जिहाद अभियान का डर कि कहीं इस्लामिक प्रभाव मजबूत न हो जाए और मसीहियत को बढ़ाने के लिए पश्चिमी देशों से प्राप्त सहयोग का डर।

विदेशी मिशनरियों के बारे में (गलत) जानकारी, जिसके कारण ऑस्ट्रेलियाई मिशनरी,ग्राहम स्टेंस और उनके दो बेटो की 1999 में उड़ीसा (अब ओडिशा) में भयावह हत्या कर दी गयी, यह ईसाइयों के प्रति संदेह और हिंसा में वृद्धि का चिन्ह है। झारखंड (२०१७),उत्तराखंड (२०१८) और उत्तर प्रदेश (२०२०), और मध्य प्रदेश (२०२१) और गुजरात (२०२१) में मौजूदा कानूनों में कठोर संशोधन करने वाले कानूनों को लागू किया गया, आस्था की सीमाएं बड़ी तेज़ी से राज्य {सरकार} की रूचि में शामिल हो गयी हैं। अन्य राज्यों द्वारा इस रुझान को आगे बढ़ाने की संभावना है, जिसके तहत भारतीय जनता पार्टी (बीजेपी) को राज्यों में होने वाले चुनावों में अधिक वोट पाने की आशा है ।

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