Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Thursday moved the Supreme Court to challenge anti conversion laws
of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh
Sankalp Mirani
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Thursday moved the Supreme Court to challenge anti-conversion laws
of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, saying they
have been enacted to “harass” interfaith couples and implicate them in criminal cases.
The Muslim body, in its PIL filed through advocate Ejaz Maqbool, said the provisions of all the
local laws of the five states force a person to disclose his/ her faith and consequently, invade
the privacy of a person.
BRIEF ABOUT THE ANTI CONVERSION LAW PETITION
“The petitioners are filing the present writ petition…challenging the constitutional validity of the
Uttar Pradesh Prohibition Of Unlawful Conversion Of Religion Act, 2021, the Uttarakhand
Freedom Of Religion Act, 2018, the Himachal Pradesh Freedom Of Religion Act, 2019, the
Madhya Pradesh Freedom Of Religion Act, 2021, and the Gujarat Freedom of Religion
(Amendment) Act, 2021,” the plea said.
“The compulsory disclosure of one’s religion in any form amounts to a violation of the right to
manifest his/her beliefs as the said right includes the right not to manifest one’s beliefs,” it said.
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In addition, five statutory provisions allow family members of persons who have undergone
interfaith marriages to file First Information Reports (FIRs), effectively opening a new tool for
harassing converts. giving them, the petition claims.
These laws are being abused by disgruntled families, the paper said.
“It has been argued that the term ‘undue influence’ is too broad and vague, and can be used to
target persons in positions of power over those who have converted
Earlier, when a series of petitions against the laws of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
were heard, the bank, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, filed all the cases pending in
multiple high courts affecting the challenging legislation. , supreme court.
PAST HISTORY OF ANTI CONVERSION LAW
The Central Government has not imposed any anti-conversion laws in India. The states have phrased laws against forceful religious conversion or anti-conversion laws. Even in the modern era, we hear cases of forceful conversions. So, there is a need for stringent laws to prevent forceful religious conversions in the nation. There was a demand for a national anti-conversion law.
Post India’s independence, many anti-conversion bills were introduced in Parliament. But unfortunately, none got enforced. The first bill was introduced in 1954 and was called the Indian Conversion Bill. The idea behind this bill was to license the missionaries, and anybody who gets converted should be registered with the Government officials. However, the bill did not get the required support in Lok Sabha.
The next bill or anti-conversion law was brought to Parliament in 1960 and was called Backward Communities Bill. This bill stated Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism as non-Indian religions. And it aimed to discover the conversion of Hindus to these non-Indian religions.
This bill was followed by the Freedom of Religion Bill in 1979. This bill also crashed in Parliament by not gathering enough support. It aimed at curbing inter-religious conversions.
Finally, in 2015, the union law ministry said that it is not possible to enforce a bill on fraudulent religious conversions at the national level. Since these matters come under the states, the states are free to enact state anti-conversion laws in India as per the constitution.
Most states have common anti-conversion law characteristics, like a ban on forceful or fraudulent conversions. However, for states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, there is a ban on conversion via marriage.
