By Shyju Naduvathaniyl
NEW DELHI:Anti-conversion laws in several Indian states are a direct affront to fundamental rights and may strike at the core of the country’s much-admired secular system, an advocate for dalit people says.
“Conversion to any religion is one’s fundamental right,” said James Masey, director of center for dalit and subaltern studies.
The number of states to introduce anti-conversion bills in recent years indicate the “big protest of religious fundamentalists of some religions” against people freely becoming Christian or Muslim.
Leaders across religious lines discussed the issue at a two-day conference that ended yesterday. The national consultation was organized by the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), a joint forum of Protestant and Orthodox churches. It was attended by Hindus, Muslim and Christians.
Hinduism is India’s majority religion, adhered to by 80 percent of the country’s 1.15 billion people. Islam is second with 13 percent, while only 2 percent of Indians are Christian.
The issue of alleged forced conversions have been the flashpoint for deadly violence by Hindu extremists against Christians in several parts of India. The hardest hit states have been Karnataka and Orissa.
Currently, anti-conversion laws exist in states of Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. The legislation restricts religious conversion and punishes people who change religion without informing the state.
Such laws are a threat to the individual freedom and “must be protested in all power,” Reverend Hilli Likha from Arunachal Pradesh said.
There was no place for the laws in modern India, said Reverend Solomon Rongpi, executive secretary of NCCI Commission on Unity, Mission and Evangelism.
“The younger generation is interested in religious pluralism and we as a civil society need to come forward to enforce religion pluralism in India.” He advocates dialogue between religions.
Anjna Masih, executive secretary of the NCCI Commission on Policy, Governance and Public Witness, wanted Christians to unit to protest the law. “We must unite and react unanimously,” she added.UCAN