‘Freedom of religion not freedom to force poor to convert’: Rajasthan Assembly passes anti-conversion Bill

The Congress party, meanwhile, alleged that additional cameras had been installed near the Opposition benches to snoop on its MLAs in the House, leading to the party storming the Well and raising slogans during the debate.

Accusing the Congress of avoiding discussion on the Bill, the ruling BJP’s MLAs argued that the Bill is necessary to curb forced or induced religious conversions, especially among poor, tribal, and underprivileged communities. They also cited concerns regarding “love jihad”, foreign-funded missionary activity, and threats to social harmony and national security.

Bedham accused the Congress party of not wanting to hold a discussion as part of a hidden agenda to appease a “particular community”. He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as saying that “every citizen has a right to follow and freedom to choose their religion, but no one has the right to convert by force or inducement.”

He reasoned that the Bill was needed to “ensure that a person is not converted as a result of fraud, deception or inducement. Such a law will help in maintaining peace and harmony in the society by preventing conflict and division among different communities and prove effective in preventing large-scale religious conversions, in an organised and planned manner, among the weaker sections of society.”

He said such a law would prove to be a milestone in preventing cases of fraudulent marriages and “love jihad”, including through force. However, in response to an Assembly question by a BJP MLA in the previous session, the government had said that there had been zero “love jihad” cases in the state.

Quoting Supreme Court and Allahabad High Court rulings, Bedham said that, “The SC and several other courts have accepted the matter of forced religious conversion as a violation of religious freedom, due to which a need was felt for making a law on this issue.”

“Honourable Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma felt that the manner in which conversions are increasing in Rajasthan — people come in the form of missionaries and give various inducements to convert — so there is a need to formulate a strict law,” he said.

Stricter penalties

The new Bill introduces significantly harsher penalties for unlawful religious conversions compared to an earlier version. Offenders can face seven years to life imprisonment and hefty fines, with more severe punishments for cases involving minors, women, people from SC/ST communities, the differently abled, or mass conversions.

Receiving foreign or illegal funds for conversions can lead to 10–20 years in jail and a fine of at least Rs 20 lakh. In special cases involving force, fraud, or coercion (like false promises of marriage), the punishment goes up to life imprisonment and a minimum of Rs 30 lakh fine, with repeat offenders facing even stricter penalties, including Rs 50 lakh fine. Properties used for illegal conversions may be demolished or confiscated, and institutions involved can lose licences permanently, face property seizure, and be made to pay fines up to Rs 1 crore. All offences under the Bill are cognisable and non-bailable.

However, returning to one’s ancestral religion or “ghar wapsi” is exempted.

For voluntary conversions, individuals will be required to submit detailed declarations to the District Magistrate months in advance, with multiple layers of verification, public notification, and inquiry. Violations of this process can also result in up to 14 years in prison and high fines.

Opposition raises concerns

Speaking outside the Assembly, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully accused the ruling party of taking their “agenda” forward.

“When Modi ji has been on the PM seat for 11 years, why are they remembering conversion today, why aren’t they making a law in the Centre,” he said, adding that, “There is no ‘love jihad’ case as per the government’s own admission and there have been 13 religious conversion cases in the last five years, most of which have been closed. So, they only want to vitiate the atmosphere of love, brotherhood and communal harmony.”

During the debate, RLD MLA Subhash Garg questioned the need to bring the Bill, saying that such strict provisions are not there in similar legislations in other states and that the government should have studied those Bills, too.

Alleging that the Bill would lead to corruption, he said, “Everyone wants to stop (illegal) conversion, but what is the aim behind this Bill? That the police have a field day? Other laws are misused, too, by the mafia. Similarly, corruption will increase as the offences are non-bailable and the accused will be at the mercy of the police.”

Bharat Adivasi Party MLA: ‘I’m not Hindu, Christian, Muslim’

Bharat Adivasi Party MLA from Pratapgarh’s Dhariyawad said, “I, Thavar Chand Damor, am an Adivasi. I am not a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, I am only and only an Adivasi. From time immemorial, my ancestors have come from the earth of this land, Bharat. I am the root seed of the Aravali Mountain range. I am not of a DNA that came from outside.”

He said the Bhil and Gond Adivasis don’t come in the varna system and are “dharma poorvi (before religion)”. “In the 1931 census, there was a separate column for tribals with an independent religion code, but our religious code column was subsequently removed, which was a historic mistake,” he said, adding that as a result, the tribals who were uneducated or were economically weak, “slowly joined other religions”.

“The truth is that those tribals who converted to Christianity did not convert from Hinduism, but from a tribe. So, if there is a ‘ghar wapsi’ for them, it should be as a tribal, and not into the Hindu religion.”

“If the government wants to stop conversion, then as a first step, tribals should be given back their religious code column,” Damor said.

Sharing a news clipping from Banswara about alleged forced conversion of tribals, Bedham said, “I feel sad that some people in this House are refusing to accept themselves as Hindus.”