Punjab Bachao Andolan seeks anti-conversion bill, alleges illegal conversions

Minhas said the organisation would soon submit memorandums to the chief minister, the governor and the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, and file PILs on the issue.

Addressing a press conference at the Punjab Press Club in Jalandhar, Minhas and other speakers, including Prof MP Singh and Sukhwinder Singh Lally, claimed, “Around 65,000 pastors are operating in the state and engaging in conversions through enticement, coercion and fake miracle cures in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, and several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).”

According to the speakers, “The 2011 Census recorded the Christian population at 1.26 per cent (around 3.48 lakh people), which has risen to nearly 15 per cent, pointing to large-scale conversions in the last decade.”

The speakers alleged that some foreign nationals visiting India on tourist or work visas were “involved in conversions, though the law mandates a missionary visa for such activities”.

They also raised concerns over the diversion of agricultural land for building deras and the use of loudspeakers and advertisements that “disturb the peace and religious sentiments of others.”

The organisation demanded “an updated religious census, withdrawal of reservation benefits for converts, and investigation by the CBI and the RA&W into alleged foreign funding of such religious groups.”

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