Nearly 200,000 Christians gathered in a village in Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern Indian state, to protest the impending implementation of an anti-conversion law. The legislation, criticized as a tool for targeting the Christian community, is set to be enforced following a directive from the state’s High Court.
The Christians held the gathering last week in Borum village to protest the enforcement of the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, said the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide in a statement.
The law, dormant since its enactment in 1978, was ordered to be implemented following a directive from the Gauhati High Court last September. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government had been ordered to finalize the rules within six months, or by the end of this month.
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The protest, organized under the banner of the Arunachal Pradesh Christian Forum, marked the climax of weeks of opposition to the law, which the Christian community argues infringes upon their constitutional right to freedom of religion.
With Christians comprising over 30% of Arunachal Pradesh’s population, the Forum contends that the legislation disproportionately targets their community while leaving other religious groups, such as Buddhists and followers of indigenous faiths, unaffected.
The legislation, originally passed by the Legislative Assembly to preserve the religious practices of Arunachal’s tribal communities, prohibits conversions achieved through “force, inducement, or fraudulent means.” Further, it requires individuals seeking religious conversion to obtain prior approval from district authorities.
Critics argue that such provisions are oppressive and discriminatory.
Forum’s President Tarh Miri stated that the law undermines secularism and unfairly singles out Christians, despite their adherence to many indigenous traditions after converting.
The ruling followed a Public Interest Litigation filed by Tambo Tamin, a former general secretary of the Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh, an organization advocating for the preservation of traditional tribal religions.
In a February meeting with the state’s interior minister, Christian leaders requested the repeal of the law, but were informed that the government must comply with the court’s directive. In response, the Forum vowed to escalate its protests, including plans for a “referendum rally” if the law is not repealed by the end of March.
The Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society argues that conversions to Christianity threaten tribal cultural practices. The group recently organized a counter-rally and a “Sadbhavna Pad Yatra” (foot march) in favor of the legislation, calling for its swift implementation.
The BJP’s ideological parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is India’s chief and umbrella Hindu nationalist group, has reportedly influenced the Society.
The state is home to 26 major tribes and hundreds of smaller ones, with religious affiliations spanning Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and indigenous animist practices.
Christianity has brought significant cultural changes to Arunachal Pradesh, particularly in transforming certain traditional practices. Before its introduction, customs such as drinking alcohol and taking revenge were widely accepted as part of the cultural norm among many tribal communities. With the spread of Christianity, these behaviors have been increasingly discouraged, as the faith calls for moral discipline, forgiveness and non-violence. Many converts have adopted lifestyles centered on Christian teachings, promoting peace, community welfare and a rejection of practices considered harmful or divisive.
Currently, 11 states enforce similar anti-conversion laws.
The anti-conversion laws claim that Christians “force” or give money or material items to Hindus to persuade them to convert to Christianity. They typically state that no one can use the “threat” of “divine displeasure,” which means Christians can’t talk about Heaven or Hell since it would be seen as luring someone to convert.
Christians, who represent 2.3% of India’s population compared to Hindus at nearly 80%, often face attacks under the pretext of stopping “forcible” conversions to Christianity.
While Hindu nationalists routinely allege forcible or coerced conversions, only a few individuals have been convicted under an anti-conversion law, and even those convictions are still under appeal.
