High Court in India rejects plea by Hindu nationalists to ban religious conversions
Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court allowed Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to withdraw a public interest litigation calling for a ban religious conversions. Prior to allowing Upadhyay to withdraw his petition, the Delhi High Court stated that religion is a personal belief and to convert to a different faith was an individual’s choice.
According to Upadhyay’s public interest litigation, NGOs and other institutions are converting low caste Hindus in mass through intimidation, threats, and allurement. “Many individuals/organizations have started conversions of SC/STs in rural areas and the situation is very alarming,” Upadhyay’s petition before the court claimed.
“The mass religious conversion of the socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and, in particular of the schedule caste and scheduled tribe community, is on the rise in the past 20 years. ”If left unchecked, Upadhyay’s petition claimed that, “Hindus will become a minority in India.”
To check these mass religious conversions, Upadhyay’s petition suggested enacting a law that would regulate and prevent religious conversions by force or deceit. This would be similar to anti-conversion laws already enacted in several states across India.
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