Since 2003, Gujarat has been among a handful of states that have enacted an anti-conversion law. According to the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, religious conversions done through force, allurement, or by fraudulent means are illegal and criminalized.

Several departments in the Gujarat government have been asked to look into the legality of the new anti-conversion law and how it will affect the 2003 Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act.

“Our existing law has a provision to act against a person who indulges in forced conversion in the name of love or marriage,” government sources told the Times of India. “However, the state government has been seeking feedback from elected legislators as well as groups from society on whether there ought to be stricter provisions to contain ‘love jihad’.”

Recently, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh enacted anti-conversion ordinances. Both state governments, led by the BJP, claim the ordinances were enacted to combat the issue of ‘love jihad’ and other fraudulent religious conversions.

Radical Hindu nationalists use the specter of mass religious conversions to Christianity and Islam as justification to pass laws limiting religious freedom. According to these nationalists, Indian Christians and Muslims are accused of converting poor Hindus to Christianity and Islam in mass by fraudulent means.

In states where similar anti-conversion laws are currently enacted, including Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttrakhand, they are widely abused. Radical nationalists falsely accuse Christians of forcefully converting individuals to Christianity to justify harassment and assault. Local police often overlook violence perpetrated against Christians due to false accusations of forced conversion.

Source: ICC