A state in southwestern India has become the latest to ban forced religious conversions.
The “Right to Freedom of Religion Bill,” passed by the upper house of the state legislature, makes illegal any conversion due to “force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means” or “by a promise of marriage.” According to its provisions, any person who is a “victim” of attempts at “forced conversion,” his or her relatives, or even an acquaintance, can file a complaint.
Karnataka is now the 10th Indian state with anti-conversion laws.
The law carries a punishment of three to five years imprisonment, along with heavy fines.
In case of accusations of forced conversion, the law establishes that the burden of proof lies with the accused, according to Vatican News.
Bishops maintain that the law targets social and educational activities promoted by the Church.
The law had the support of the local pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fides reported last year that the bishops expressed concern about restrictions that would limit or prevent the possibility of foreign donations for charitable works for India’s poor.
According to Pew Research findings in 2021, Indian Christians disproportionally identify with lower castes (74%).
In May, Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore, head of the Karnataka Bishops’ Conference, handed the Karnataka governor a memorandum listing the reasons for religious minorities’ opposition to the legislation.
For its part, the local government maintains that the legislation will only protect people from forced conversions, arguing that they are becoming more and more frequent.
Karnataka, whose capital is Bangalore, borders several states, including Goa, which has a significant Christian population. In Karnataka itself, Christian make up less than 2% of the population.
However, as Vatican News noted, India faces “growing intolerance against religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims, who have been repeatedly attacked under the pretext of illegally converting poor people from Hinduism.”
This story was originally published in aleteia.org . Read the full story here