Satya Prakash
New Delhi, November 28
Maintaining that no one has a fundamental right to convert others, the Centre on Monday assured the Supreme Court that it will take serious measures to check forced and fraudulent religious conversions.
“The right to freedom of religion does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion. The said right certainly does not include the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion, allurement or other such means,” the Centre said in an affidavit filed in the top court.
The affidavit has been filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in response to a PIL by Delhi BJP leader advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking a direction to take measures to control fraudulent religious conversion by threat and inducements.
Asserting that the government was cognisant of the gravity and the seriousness of the issue raised in the petition, the MHA said, “The reliefs sought in the present petition would be taken up in all seriousness by the Union of India and appropriate steps shall be taken as the central government is cognizant of the menace.”
Citing a Supreme Court verdict, it said the word ‘propagate’ did not envisage the right to convert a person rather was in the nature of the positive right to spread one’s religion by exposition of its tenets.
The top court has already upheld laws which sought to control and curb the menace of organized, sophisticated large scale illegal conversions, it said, adding such laws were necessary to protect cherished rights of vulnerable sections of the society, including women and economically and socially backward classes.
A Bench led by Justice MR Shah ndash; which had on November 14 described forced religious conversion as a “very serious” matter affecting the security of the nation — on Monday asked the Centre to collate information received from all the states on the steps taken by them in this regard and posted the matter for further hearing on December 5.
“This is a very serious matter. Sincere efforts are to be made by the Centre to stop forced conversions. Otherwise, a very difficult situation will comehellip;Tell us what action you propose? You have to step in,” the Bench had told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
Noting that religious conversion was legal under the Constitution, it had clarified that forceful conversion was not permissible. “Everybody has the right to choose religion, but not by forced conversions. It’s a very dangerous thing,” the Bench had said.
Pointing out that the problem was not area specific and had a pan-India dimension which needed urgent intervention, Upadhyay said either a separate law should be enacted to control such conversions or an offence should be added to the Indian Penal Code.
He has sought directions to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion by “intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits”.
He said, “The injury caused to the citizens is extremely large because there is not even one district which is free of religious conversion by ‘hook and crook.”
“Incidents are reported every week throughout the country where conversion is done by intimidating, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits and also by using black magic, superstition, miracles but Centre and States have not taken stringent steps to stop this menace,” Upadhyay submitted. He sought directions to the Law Commission to prepare a report as well as a Bill to control religious conversion by intimidation and monetary benefits.
