Raipur, India - The Chhattisgarh government Monday refused to review its tough amendments to an anti-conversion law passed by the legislative assembly last month and now awaiting the state governor’s formal approval.
The refusal comes in the wake of Saturday’s rally by thousands of Christians, under the banner of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, in state capital Raipur demanding repeal of the anti-conversion legislation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-majority Chhattisgarh assembly passed the amendments to the anti-conversion law Aug 3 amid strident protest by the opposition Congress. The proposed law provides for a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs.20,000 for those indulging in religious conversion by force or allurement.
Christian missionaries charge that the BJP is trying to target them with the amendments to the Freedom of Religion Act, 1968. Chhattisgarh retained the act when it was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000.
The missionaries have a strong presence in the vast rural and inaccessible forested belts of Chhattisgarh - mainly in the social and educational spheres. The state government alleges that they bribe poor Hindu tribespersons as well as the backward classes to make them embrace Christianity.
‘The protest and demonstration by Christian bodies will hardly build up pressure on the government. The bill has already been passed by the assembly and soon it will become a law,’ Home Minister Ramvichar Netam told IANS.
According to the amendments, those wishing to convert have to seek permission of the local district magistrate 30 days in advance.
‘The government is determined to see that the amendments become a law at the earliest. There is no question of buckling under the missionaries’ protest tactics,’ Netam added.
Catholic priests of various tribal pockets of Chhattisgarh, including Catholic Sabha Jashpur, Surguja and Koriya, have announced they will step up protests to pressure the government to withdraw the amendments, or at least the provision for a three-year jail term.
‘The amendments are aimed to harass the missionaries and target the minority Christians. It violates the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution that ensures religious freedom to all citizens,’ said Archbishop Joseph Augustine of Raipur.
There are over 300,000 Christians in Chhattisgarh of its total population of 20.8 million.