Author: Dr Justice P. Venugopal
(Retd)
Publication: Organiser
Date: May 11, 2003
URL: http://www.organiser.org/11May2003/p14.htm
Introduction: Conversion generates
and fosters a rift in the society and leads a stable society into a disintegrated
society. It disturbs the social structure and leads to a clash of cultures.
Conversions arouse resentment and indignation and help to the flames of
communal frenzy and passion creating problems of Law and Order.
Legislative history of Anti-Conversion
Law in India
When the Britishers ruled India
there was no anti-conversion law. The reason being that they were followers
of Christianity and understandably they did not enact a law detrimental
to their own interest by prohibiting conversion from one religion to another
religion. During the British regime many Hindus willingly and voluntarily
embraced Christianity to secure pecuniary gains and other advantages from
the British rulers.
While British India had no anti-conversion
law, many Princely States enacted anti- conversion legislation: the Raigarh
State Conversion Act 1936, the Patna Freedom of Religion Act 1942, the
Sarguja State Apostasy Act 1945 and the Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act
1946. Similar laws were enacted in Bikaner Jodhpur, Kalhandi and Kota and
many more Princely States were specifically against conversion to Christianity
and enacted anti-conversion law in their states.
After India attaining Independence
and in the changed democratic set-up, public opinion against conversion
became vigilant and assertive. In a predominantly Hindu Society, a large-scale
conversion of Hindus to Christianity or Islam has a tendency to disturb
the local custom and faith as well as indigenous institutions and thereby
rob the local people of their own personality. It generates and fosters
a rift in the society and leads a stable society into a disintegrated society.
It disturbs the social structure and leads to a clash of cultures. Conversions
arouse resentment and indignation and help to the flames of communal frenzy
and passion creating problems of Law and Order.
In Madhya Pradesh, having a large
population of tribal known as "Adivasis", the Government received number
of reports that large-scale conversions of tribal to Christians are taking
place by threat, inducement and other fraudulent means by foreign missionaries
and the Government should put an end to this unhealthy practice. The Government
then constituted an inquiry commission headed by Dr Bhavani Shankar Niyogi,
a retired Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and comprising five members.
One of the members of the Commission was S.K. George, a Christian and a
true Gandhian and working as a professor in a college at Wardha. The Commission
toured fourteen districts and visited seventy- seven places. It examined
11,300 persons coming from 770 villages and sent questionnaires and received
reports from 375 institutions, which included 55 Christian institutions.
It also sent questionnaires to prominent individuals of the State. After
such detailed and elaborate inquiries the Commission submitted a comprehensive
report to the government in 1966. Some of the important recommendations
made by the Commission
were as follows:-
1) Christian missionaries are converting
innocent and ignorant people to Christianity by offering various inducements
such as free education, free medical facilities and employment opportunities.
2) Christian institutions are receiving
funds and other contributions from foreign countries.
3) These Christian institutions
are controlled by the Churches of foreign countries.
4) It is, therefore, necessary to
enact legislation banning conversion.
On these recommendations of the
Commission, the Madhya Pradesh Government passed the anti-conversion law
known as Madhya Pradesh Swantraya Adhiniyan Act, 1966 prohibiting conversion
from one religion to another religion and following Madhya Pradesh Orissa
enacted the Act called Orissa freedom of Religion Act 1967. This was soon
followed by the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 1978 to provide
for prohibition of conversion from one religious faith to another by use
of force or inducement or by fraudulent means. The Union Territory of Tripura
also passed a similar enactment. The Parliament as early as 1954 took up
for consideration legislative enactment banning conversion known as Indian
Conversion (Regulation and Registration Bill and later in 1960 the Backward
Communities (Religious Protection) Bill and they had to be dropped for
lack of majority support. A Bill was introduced in Parliament by a member
O.P. Tyagi called "The Freedom of Religion Bill 1978". The Bill was a modified
and improved version of the legislative enactments of the Madhya Pradesh
and Orissa. As there was no sufficient support in Parliament the Bill was
withdrawn by the private member O.P. Tyagi.
In the aftermath of Meenakshipuram
conversion of Hindus to Islam in Tamil Nadu in February 1981, the Ministry
of Home Affairs, Government of India advised the state Governments and
Union Territories' administrations to enact laws prohibiting change of
religion on the lines of the existing Acts in Madhya Pradesh Orissa and
Arunachal Pradesh. It is significant to note that this suggestion by the
Ministry of Home Affairs was made at a time when the ruling party in the
Centre was Congress party, which claimed to be secular in outlook and action,
and not the Bharatiya Janata Party, willing to wound and yet afraid to
strike-maybe an apt characterisation of the half-hearted measures taken
by the Central Government for enacting legislation banning conversation
from one religion to another religion.
Why the need for anti-conversion
law
Formidable forces operating in the
field of conversion warrant anti-conversion law. The phenomenal financial
wherewithal available for Christian missionaries for proselytisation and
evangelistic activities to facilitate conversion of people of other religions
to Christianity is indeed mind-boggling. Their annual financial budget
for proselytisation and evangelic activities in foreign countries is 145
billion dollars (Rs. 7,50,000 crore). Looking at the infrastructure facilities
they have on role four million full-time workers numbering larger than
the combined military strength of United States of America and Europe.
This is the largest single army of workers save the red army of China to
propagate Christianity. They run 13,000 major libraries. They publish 22,000
periodicals and print four billion tracts every year. They operate 1800
TV and radio stations propagating Christianity. These are the statistical
figures published in the year 1989 as evidenced by an article of S. Gurumurthy
published in New Indian Express in October 2002.
What about their strength in India?
They have more than 1,00,000 Pastors evangelists and preachers. They have
set a goal of building 2000 new churches by the year 2000 and to build
in Tamil Nadu alone 1000 churches in the far-off villages. These are the
plans of just one sect of Christianity. The full-time Indian missionary
society of one denomination has increased from 420 in 1973 to 2941 in 1983,
an increase of seven times in just 10 years. These are the figures given
by Gurumurthi in an article published in October 2002 by New Indian Express.
The generals of this army set-up for conversion state: "All over India
numerical conversion was on regular increase for nearly 100 years and in
the period between 1961 to 1971 there was a decline in conversion. The
only major exception is the North-East where the traditional trend is continuing
particularly in Arunachal Pradesh."
Looking at the meticulous planning,
preparation, documentation and follow-up action Arun Shourie in his seminal
work Missionaries in India states that it is more like pentagon strategy
to conquer than a spiritual scheme to serve. The United States Commission
on international Religious Freedom is "monitoring very closely" the legislation
against religious conversions enacted in Tamil Nadu. This only shows how
foreign missionaries are evincing keen interest and their meticulous follow-
up action on conversion activities in India. Globally supported and funded
Christian missionaries are functioning with unabated zeal and enthusiasm
to spread their tentacles to find out victims for conversions to Christianity.
As stated earlier, the annual financial
budget for proselytisation and evangelistic activities by foreign countries
is of the order Rs. 7,50,000 crore and a substantial portion of this amount
finds their entry into India as seen from the following three circumstances.
After the Meenakshipuram conversions of Hindus to Islam that took place
in February 1981 the Ministry of Home Affairs presented evidence of the
extent of foreign support and funding of Christian missionaries for conversion
of people to Christianity and advised the state Governments and Union Territory
administrations to enact Anti- conversion legislation on the lines of the
existing Acts in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh. In the Mandaikadu
Commission of inquiry there was ample evidence to suggest that foreign
money that flows into the country to maintain educational and medical institutions
of Christian missionaries is being diverted for the use of professional
proselytisers for effecting conversion to Christianity. The commission
suggested amendment of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act to plug
the loopholes and prevent diversion of funds for proselytisation activities.
In this connection, it may be significant to note that also reported that
Christian missionaries are getting substantial contribution from foreign
countries for their conversion activities.
(To be continued)