A heated controversy is on regarding religious conversion. The Bharatiya Janata Party wants a national law that bans religious conversion and the Opposition is up against it. From a point of view, the controversy may seem pointless. Many Indian states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh which have been ruled sometimes by the BJP and sometimes by the Congress have already laws that ban religious conversion by force, fraud and allurement. Besides, while India guarantees the right to propagate religion, it does not recognize the right to convert as a fundamental right. The distinction should be clearly understood. The country is beset with many uncertainties and has numerous religions. On the other hand, it is a liberal society and encourages debate. The right to conversion may be debated but it should not inflame communal passions.
The BJP’s demand for a law against conversion, doubtless, smacks of its disguised Hindutva. The line between the right to convert and the right to forcible conversion appears very thin to it. The issue of religious conversion is mainly targeted against Christian missionaries. Some of them do try forcible conversion because it is their job to convert people of other religions but it is usually done with its egalitarian attitude to draw underprivileged Hindu communities. Hindu society is still highly discriminatory against the socially downtrodden. But to counter this attempt with reconversion or violence is equally reprehensible. Some years ago Hindu zealots attacked Christian convents and churches in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Apologies by the governments of these states did not minimize the wrongdoing. Conversion to Islam by force is not in evidence in India. It is done only when Hindu women willingly marry Muslims and convert to their religion. The majority community should highlight the fact that the essence of Hinduism is tolerance.
