Plea in Delhi HC seeking direction to control religious conversion

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to take steps to control religious conversion by intimidating, threatening or deceivingly luring unwitting individuals with gifts or monetary benefits or by using miracles, superstition, and black magic.

The plea was filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to take appropriate steps to control religious conversion in the spirit of the observations made by the Supreme Court.

He has also sought appropriate steps to prohibit religious gatherings, which are intended to mislead people by making false and untenable claims, designed to lure ignorant masses in joining a particular faith or religious group by false exaggerated claims of possession of divine and supernatural powers, in the spirit of the observations of the Allahabad High Court.

He has also sought to take appropriate steps to implement the recommendations of Law Commission Report-235 on Conversion and Reconversion to Another Religion.

In his plea, Upadhyay said that India is a victim of religious conversions for many centuries and therefore, it is the duty of the state to take appropriate steps to stop religious conversion of socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, particularly of the SC-STs community, being done by intimidating, threatening and various other methods.

"It is necessary to state with dismay that the Government has done little or nothing to stop religious conversions by force and luring gifts and money etc. Evidence of deceitful religious conversion is available in social media, particularly on YouTube and Facebook. Foreign-funded individuals and NGOs are given a road map and monthly target of religious conversion. It is necessary to state that as per 2011 census, Hindus are 79 per cent and down from 86 per cent in 2001, (most importantly 79 per cent including millions converted continue to record them as Hindus to get a reservation in jobs and other benefits)," the petition said.

The petition further stated that many individuals and organisations have started conversions of SC-STs in rural areas and the situation is very alarming. "The mass religious conversion of the socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and, in particular of the SC and ST community, is on the rise in the last 20 years," the petition stated.

The organisations operate very smoothly targeting socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and in particular of the SC and ST community, with fraudulent tricks such as mass prayers of miracle healing and marketing campaigns of black magic, the plea said.