MADHYA PRADESH, India — India’s Madhya Pradesh state has passed legislation that would send those who convert and their religious leaders to prison for failing to obtain permission from authorities at least one month prior to conversion.
The bill requires the governor’s signature before becoming law. Existing law in Madhya Pradesh requires those who convert to notify government officials after conversion; the new legislation not only requires prior permission but also obligates religious leaders to report the conversions, and it increases prison terms from one to three years for clergy and converts who fail to do so.
In the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state, the bill states religious leaders must fill out an application form giving details of the venue and date of conversion ceremonies and provide a list of names and addresses of those seeking conversion. This application has to be submitted at the district magistrate’s office a month before conversion.
With India already on a “watch list” of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, India’s Christians were aghast at the bill’s level of interference in private personal belief. In August 2012, the Himachal Pradesh High Court struck down similar legislation.
The bill is an amendment to Madhya Pradesh’s existing “anti-conversion” law of 1968. Ironically called “Freedom of Religion Acts,” such laws forbid forcible or fraudulent conversions, but Hindu nationalists have used them to arrest and harass Christians with false accusations.
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