Anti-conversion law
Anti-conversion laws, or anti-conversion legislations, are a set of judicial rules that restrict or prohibit conversion of faith from one religion to another. It is a federal law in countries such as Algeria, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. They are meant to prevent forced conversion of individuals to different religions, and offences are punishable by imprisonment and fine. Sri Lanka has prepared its legislation, but has not yet enacted it. Pakistan had introduced the Prohibition of Forced Conversion Bill 2021 that was rejected by its Ministry of Religious Affairs in 2021.
Algeria
The constitution of Algeria declares that Islam is the state religion. Religious conversion law was included in 2006, according to which an attempt to convert a Muslim will be penalised with five years in prison and a fine of USD70 to 140. Muhammad Aissa, director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, explained that the new law was to restrict Christian evangelists who were part of the "tool to destabilize the country during the last bloody decade."As amended in 2020, the provision adds that "The freedom to exercise worship is guaranteed if it is exercised in accordance with the law." It specifies that although religious conversion itself is permissible, it contains an anti-conversion law that prohibits religious act that "incites, constrains, or utilizes means of seduction intending to convert a Muslim to another religion; or by using establishments of teaching, education, health, social, culture, training…or any financial means." Classified as a criminal offence, violation carries a penalty of one million dinars and five-year imprisonment.
Bhutan
The constitution of Bhutan states that Buddhism is the religious heritage of the country and violation of Buddhist practices are prohibited. Although it emphasises on "the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion" to all its citizens, its constitution has a clause: "No person shall be compelled to belong to another faith by means of coercion or inducement." An explicit anti-conversion clause was included in the 2011 amendment; The Penal Code Act of Bhutan 2011 Article 463A reads:The specifics of coercion and inducement are not defined. Offenders are given three-year imprisonment, and is mostly targeted at Christians.
India
In India, anti-conversion laws were instituted in the 1930s under the British Rule for some Hindu princely states. The aim was to prevent Christianisation and "to preserve Hindu religious identity in the face of British missionaries." Raigarh State Conversion Act of 1936 was enforced by the Raigarh Chief, Chakradhar Singh to protect lower castes and tribes of Hindu community. The Patna Freedom of Religion Act of 1942, the Sarguja State Apostasy Act 1945, and the Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act of 1946 were subsequently introduced.After Indian independence, as the Indian constitution was prepared, the Constituent Assembly's Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights proposed a clause against conversion by "coercion or undue influence" but was ultimately rejected. The Indian Conversion Bill was put up in 1954, which aimed to administer the "licensing of missionaries and the registration of conversion with government officials". The bill was turned down in the lower house of parliament. Other bills to check Hindus converting to other religions were introduced in 1954 and 1967, but were rejected. In 1977, the Supreme Court of India upheld that the anti-conversion regulation of Madhya Pradesh and Odisha as being constitutional. In 2015, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced that the federal government could not legislate anti-conversion laws and that they were under the purview of state legislatures.
There is no federal law regulating religious conversions. Arunachal Pradesh had formulated the Freedom of Religion Act, 1978, but was never enacted. Rajasthan also approved its bills in 2006 and 2008, but did not receive approval from the Governor and the President of India both times. Tamil Nadu passed its bill in 2002, but was revoked after public protests., ten states have authorised their own laws. The states follow the similar principles of anti-religious conversion commonly described as conversion due to force or inducement or by fraudulent means. Religious conversions are not totally prohibited and can be done by authorisation from the district magistrates following legal procedures.
Chhattisgarh
The Chhattisgarh Religion Freedom Act, 2006 legalised either a three-year imprisonment and penalty up to INR 20,000 or both for offenders. In case an offender converts an individual who is a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, the penalty increase to four years imprisonment, and a fine of INR 200,000.Gujarat
The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003 was created in 2003 and updated as the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill in 2006 and in 2021. Offenders can be imprisoned for three years with a fine of up to INR 50,000. Offenders who convert an individual who is a minor, belongs to a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe or is a woman can be fined up to INR 100,000. The 2021 amendment specifies inter-religious marriage as a form of forced conversion. However, the Gujarat High Court withheld the clause.Haryana
The Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2022, provides a penalty of one to five years imprisonment and a fine of INR 100,000. It also makes concealment of religion during marriage a punishable crime carrying a penalty of three to ten years imprisonment and a fine of INR 300,000.Himachal Pradesh
The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act was introduced in 2006. It was revised as the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2022, with milder penalties. The punishment for forced conversion was reduced to one to five years from the earlier 10 years. Marriage involving religious conversion is illegal. If conversion involves a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, the imprisonment is two to seven years.Jharkhand
The Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2017 imposes imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of INR 50,000 or both for offences. The penalty is higher, a four-year imprisonment and INR 100,000 fine, or both, if the person converted is a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe.Karnataka
The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, was approved in 2022 that prohibits unauthorised inter-religious marriage. Any forced conversion is punishable by three to five years imprisonment, and a fine of INR 25,000. In case an offender is a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, the penalty increase to three to ten years imprisonment, and a fine of INR 50,000. Mass conversion will lead to three to ten years imprisonment, and a fine of INR 100,000.Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh was the second state to have anti-conversion law. It passed its Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam in 1968 enforcing "prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by use of force or allurement, or by fraudulent means, and matters incidental thereto." Punishment for offence was either one-year incarceration or a fine of INR 1,000, or both. The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020, enforced in 2021, imposes offence with up to one year in prison, and a fine of INR 5,000. In case a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, imprisonment can be up to two years imprisonment, and a fine INR 10,000.Odisha
The Government of Odisha was the first state to institute anti-conversion law. The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967 "provides that no person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religious faith to another by the use of force or by inducement or by any fraudulent means." Violation of the law is punishable by one-year imprisonment and a fine or INR 5,000, or both. It became a model for other states.Uttarakhand
The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religious Act, 2018 mandates a punishment to offenders one to five years in prison, or two to seven years in case of a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe.Uttar Pradesh
The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, approved in 2021, enforces conviction of offenders one to ten years in prison, or two to ten years in case of a minor, woman or a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe. Unauthorised inter-religious marriage is also an offence.Controversies
Anti-conversion laws in India are seen as violation of secularism and religious freedom under the Fundamental Rights. A lawyer and expert in Indian constitution, Hormasji Maneckji Seervai had remarked the Supreme Court standing on upholding the anticonversion laws as wrong and "productive of the greatest public mischief."Most of the anti-conversion laws in India were implemented after the Narendra Modi-led the Bharatiya Janata Party took up the Indian government since 2014, except in Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha. Although prior the BJP government, Gujarat enacted its law in 2003 when BJP ruled the state legislature under Modi. The BJP has been accused by other parties and non-Hindu religions as reviving the prohibitionary laws. As one of the propagandas under the right-wing activism, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, regulations on religious conversion became a major objectives of BJP. Especially the Hindu-Muslim marriage had been a major concern, which the Hindu nationalists popularly dubbed the "love jihad." Such movements are viewed as contravention not only of religious freedom, but also of other constitutional rights such as the Right to Life and Personal Liberty and the Right to Equality. Opponents of the laws claim that these are unjustified and unconstitutional.
The BJP itself has no specified nation-wide policy on religious conversion issues, and the party leaders do not share the same enthusiasms. At the Lok Sabha session in 2022, a Union minister Giriraj Singh said, "There should be a law against dharmantaran across the country." Even in the absence of anti-conversion laws, there are several criminal cases recorded on forced conversion. For example, in Maharashtra, there is no such laws yet Christians have been arrested for allegedly converting Hindus. The Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that they "already have an anti-conversion law. No one can force to convert."
When the Karnataka bill for anti-conversion law was prepared, the BJP's spokesperson Ganesh Karnik announced that the government was fully "committed to introducing this anti-conversion bill," but an undisclosed BJP leader objected to it as there was no unanimity in the legislature and could be an "embarrassment" to the party. The BJP did not have majority initially and the bill was left undecided in 2021. In early 2022, the BJP gained support and was able to pass the bill in September.
The opposition party, the Indian National Congress, the Janata Dal and Christian community opposed to and protested against the bill arguing it as unconstitutional and "completely illegal." Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai defended the bill, saying, "We are not opposing religious conversion itself. We are trying to stop forceful conversion and conversion that takes advantage of the weakness... to make sure that it is willful and legal." The bill was prepared during the earlier Congress government, to which J. C. Madhu Swamy, minister for law and parliamentary affairs, retorted: "It is absurd that Congress members are opposing a bill proposed by their own government."
In August 2021, the Gujarat High Court issued a notification of withholding parts of the Gujarat's religious laws including section 5, which is the main anti-conversion law. Following the petition filed by a petition filed by Muhammed Hakim, the court declared that the terms "violate the right to life." The court specified that inter-religious marriage is not a form of forced conversion unless there are evidences of frauds and allurement, and does not require official approval from the district magistrate.
in July 2025, the arrest of two Christian nuns in Kerala for alleged trafficking resulted in outrage and protests from Christian communities.