Photo via cache.eb.com

India state government revokes 'anti-conversion' bill

Earlier this week on March 10, India's Gujarat state government revoked the "anti-conversion" amendment bill. Lawmakers may be trying to apply an older but stronger version of the law passed in 2003, reports MNN.

That bill has remained dormant until now. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party holds a lot of power in Gujarat, and there are concerns that the older measure equally violates the religious freedoms as granted by the country's constitution.

The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill was initially passed on March 26, 2003. Because the government couldn't frame enforcement provisions, the law went dormant, reportedly over objections about some of the provisions.

According to Compass Direct News, anti-conversion laws are supposed to curb religious conversions, but believers say the laws actually obstruct evangelistic work. Often, Hindu nationalists invoke them to harass Christian workers.

Often, the anti-conversion laws are not applied to "reconversion" to Hinduism. However, the movement has been spreading. Anti-conversion legislation is on the books in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Himachal Pradesh. Laws approved but not yet implemented are found in Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

New iPad POLL! VOTE NOW! Will you buy new iPad?

[03/16/2008]

Print Version