Anti-Conversion Law Archives — Constitutional Renaissance

[This is a post by Surabhi Srivastava, Contributing Editor]

What do you understand of anti-conversion law? That person cannot change their religion? The answer is ‘No’; it means nothing close to that. An anti-conversion law never bans ‘Voluntary Conversion’, which means if you are with your free will converting your religion then; the anti-conversion law will not ban such a conversion. Furthermore, it only applies a ban on ‘Involuntary’ and ‘Forced’ conversions. So basically, what anti-conversion law will do is-it will punish those persons who are forcing someone to change their religion or preventing someone who voluntarily wants to change their religion.

The advent of anti-conversion law

Even at the pre-independence stage, anti-conversion laws were present; they were introduced by the Hindu Princely States. Post-independence also multiple laws were enacted but none of them was successfully implemented. Most of the anti-conversion laws that prevailed were for Hindu community so that they cannot change their religion to adopt another religion. In India, during the British rule from 1930-40, to restrict the conversion of Hindus, several laws were adopted by the Hindu Princely states as they were anticipating identity crises for Hindus amongst the British missionaries. However, in present India also, before the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020, already 8 states had adopted anti-conversion laws.

But why is such a law not implemented all over India?

That is because the subject matter is listed under List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and hence the Union Parliament cannot make law for it to be applicable on the whole of India. However, the centre has supported the anti-conversion laws. But where does the issue lie with respect to anti-conversion laws? Well! Most people think that the law targets Christianity because there has been a buzz that continuous attempt has been made to convert Christians into Islam or Hindus to Christianity. In 1980 also laws were enacted to protect the Christian community and hence Freedom of Religion or Anti-conversion bills were passed by the government. These laws are under the threat of being abused by communal forces.

Must-Know Incidences on Anti-Conversion Law

Rev Stanislaus vs. Madhya Pradesh– the Apex Court had discussed the aspect of Propagation of Religion under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, and it said that propagation does not extend to the idea of inducing or forcing someone to convert to your religion. A person must have a free own will to adopt another religion.

In the case of Sarla Mudgal vs. Union of India Court had further elaborated on the issue of conversion by free will. It said that if a Hindu person is converting to Islam for the mere purpose of engaging into limited polygamy then that is not a good conversion. Perhaps here the conversion was done with free will and without any inducement or promise but that aspect of having faith in the religion was missing.

So basically, everybody has the right to convert but not without faith the religion in which they intend to convert. But one cannot compel another to convert into their religion at all in states where anti-conversion law is applicable.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights has recognized religious conversion as a human right; therefore, technically anti-conversion law does not violate freedom of conversion. Hence we all have a right to choose our religion considering our faith and belief.

Analysis of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020

On the face of it, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020 (for brevity Act) has been criticized for having understood has violative of the guarantees of the Constitution but as explained above, the Act is in consonance and not really in contravention of the Constitutionals rights of the people.

Section 3 of the Acts says ‘Prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage’. Broadly segregating the provision into two segments- first being Prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement and second being Prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by marriage. The former has been understudied and the later has been over-studied and termed as ‘Love jihad’. We need to understand that this act or for that matter any Anti-conversion law does not target one or two religion(s).

Article 25 of the Constitution uses the word “freely” which would mean that conversion propagated by any means which does not include free will is not a good conversion. Hence we can say that the same deduction is given in an elaborative and conclusive manner in the Act also. The Act nowhere restricts voluntary conversion, Section 3 contains the words misrepresentation, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement which are totally contradictory to that of ‘voluntary’. However, it also says ‘by marriage’, the meaning of which comes across as immediately after marrying a person out of one’s religion, their own religion would change in their spouse’s religion automatically. Which is not the correct interpretation and hence the laws need to throw clarity on this point.

Coming to section 6 of the Act, the main heading of which states “Marriage done for the sole purpose of Unlawful conversion or vice versa to be declared void”. The provision is nothing new to the nation since many states have such a law already implemented in their states a similar law, hence Uttar Pradesh merely being a new addition to it. Free consent is one of the prime requirements to enter into a marriage and there is no wrong in declaring any marriage as void if the intention behind solemnization of that marriage is mala fide. And if the conversion is made with a good faith then the provision under Section 8 of the Act is also justified because no person will have a sudden urge to switch religions, the belief in the religion will develop eventually and hence there seems no harm in the 60 days’ advance notice demanded under the Act. In a way, it is a good law, because once the conversion takes place after due inquiry of the Magistrate, there will raise no question on the validity of such conversion.

Section 3 indicates conversion from “one religion to another religion” these religions include all the religions in the country. Hence making it a centric issue between Hindus and Muslims is a threat to the secularity of the country. The term “Love-Jihad” has taken a popular turn owing to this misconception. Love Jihad or Romeo Jihad is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory alleging that Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love[i]. Mere speculation cannot question the validity of the law altogether. And if at all the purpose the activity of unlawful activity is taking place then the Acti-conversion laws are good law in that case.

The act may have nuances but the objective and nature of the act are justifiable and for the public good. Nevertheless, Article 25 is expressly subject to public order, health and morality.

I have discussed the Puttaswamy Judgment here and its impact on Right to Privacy and liberty. In this post, I will be analysing the controversial ordinance passed by the Uttar Pradesh Government in the light of the Puttaswamy judgment. Recently, the UP Government has passed an ordinance called the “UP Prohibition of unlawful conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020”. This law has been given the colour of an ‘anti-conversion’ law.

“The Problem”: the Law

The law says that, in section 6, that “any marriage which was done for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice versa” shall be void. This means that if someone converts his/her religion to marry the other person, then that marriage is null and void, even after both the adults have given their consent for the marriage. Through this law, the state is ‘regulating’ marriage and the conscience of the citizens as well (which is a fundamental right under 25 of the constitution). The state is deciding what is right or wrong for its citizens. This questions the whole legitimacy of the social contract between the citizens and the state – the question that how much the state can regulate? Can the state regulate the private affairs of an individual? A person’s conscience is the most private thing available to her – therefore – is the state regulating our mind and our conscience and can they do it? This ordinance, unfortunately so, does it.

Further, section 8 of the Act states that any person who wants to convert shall ask to declare the same before the magistrate (‘DM’) ‘sixty days’ before. Then, the DM shall conduct an enquiry with the help of police to know the “real intention” for conversion. Giving such unfettered discretion to the DM or the police will increase arbitrary denial of conversion/free conscience. The executive authorities are not judicially trained to determine the ‘intention’ of the person and hence, this will increase the vast amount of violation of constitutional provisions such as liberty and right to conscience of an individual. The social scientists and theorists will help us in understanding the mentality of the officers (and the society) when it comes to converting to a minority religion. Every citizen has a “right to convert”- by exercising their freedom of conscience- under Article 25 of the Constitution. When a person chooses to change his/her religion then that person uses her conscience and she knows what is right or wrong for her. Hence, this regulation of a persons’ conscience must be unconstitutional.

Forceful conversions must be stopped as it goes against the ‘human will and conscience’ but putting so many barriers between those conversions which are not forceful is sheer violation of the rights of an individual. Converting for the sole purpose of marriage is the choice of the individual and the choice made by an individual must not be constrained through various provisions of the law. Here the law has to function according to the social realities and the reality is that the people who convert their religions for marriage are usually those couples who are performing inter-faith marriages. There is already so much fear of social exclusion, honour killing and persecution by the families which makes it difficult for an individual to make his/her free choice. Those who have the will to make his ‘free choice’ are forced to face the law which puts a blockade on their free choice.

Puttaswamy Judgment and individual’s Right to Choose

A person has freedom of conscience as a fundamental right because it protects that person’s right from the disdain of the majority society and legislature. A person who is converting to a minority religion faces the grave dangers of discrimination, life and liberty for a simple reason that his to-be-belief does not accord with the mainstream. Further, converting to a particular religion is an intimate choice of an individual and displaying that on the notice board of the DM and ‘taking permission’ from the authorities violates the ‘right to take an intimate decision about oneself’.

The law on anti-conversion can be defended only by the Supreme Court’s problematic judgment in Rev Stainislaus v State of Madhya Pradesh which is a 1977 ruling delivered by five judges of the Supreme Court. The Court in that judgment said, “What is freedom for one is freedom for the other in equal measure and there can, therefore, be no such thing as a fundamental right to convert any person to one’s religion.” This goes against the heart of the liberal constitutional idea. The judgment, in turns, misreads a person’s right to religion and freedom of conscience. In his three-volume book on Constitutional law, jurist Seervai argues that the “Supreme Court’s judgement is clearly wrong, is productive of the greatest public mischief and ought to be overruled.” Further, he argues, Chief Justice A N Ray “mistakenly believed that if A deliberately set out to convert B by propagating A’s religion, that would impinge on B’s “freedom of conscience”. But…the precise opposite is true: A’s propagation of his religion with a view to its being accepted by B gives an opportunity for B to exercise his free choice of a religion.”

Even in the constituent assembly, KM Munshi commented on the word ‘propagation’ and said:

“So long as religion is religion, conversion by the free exercise of the conscience has to be recognised. The word ‘propagate’ in this clause is nothing very much out of the way as some people think, nor is it fraught with dangerous consequences.”

When we propagate our religion to someone with a free mind, we are trying to persuade that person and in the consequence of it, that person uses his conscience to exercise his free choice whether she wants to convert or not. Hence, the state cannot restrict a person’s free choice to convert or not convert and the Supreme Court’s judgment in Stainislaus is ought to be overruled.

Further, the nine-judge bench in the Puttaswamy case held that “Privacy recognises the autonomy of the individual and the right of every person to make essential choices which affect the course of life.” (¶113) When a consenting adult agrees to marry another consenting adult, what they do is make an essential ‘intimate’ choice about their life which is protected by the Right to Privacy (Article 21). Similarly, when a person converts, for whatsoever reason like marriage, then that person exercises her right of freedom of conscience (Article 25)and right to make an essential choice. After the Puttaswamy judgment, the five judges ruling in Stainislaus deserve to be overruled as it is seriously flawed in its approach and it fails to recognise a person’s right to make intimate choices.

Conclusion

The UP Ordinance of 2020 invades an individual’s freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It goes against the heart of the Constitution. The state has no right in intruding into someone’s private life and the choices they make. In a constitutional democracy, the citizens must be left free to make their choices and they have autonomy over their conscience. Therefore, policing citizens over the matters of religion will badly hurt India’s secular fabric and citizens’ liberty and rights!

Tag: Anti-Conversion Law

The Legality of Anti-Conversion laws: A different perspective