ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS

A Fraud on the Constitution and Democracy of India

Abstract

Religion is simultaneously one of the greatest sources of India’s uniqueness and one of the biggest reasons for India’s disunity. It is one of the factors that led Ramachandra Guha to call India an Unnatural Nation.1 It has been the cause for riots, the fall of governments and terrorist attacks in recent times. The extent of anarchy that came to prevail in India in ‘god’s’ name is probably unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Many religious conflicts have occurred in India since independence. This religious violence includes the targeting of religious institutions and the persecution of people on the basis of their religion. Many times this violence took the form of riots. Religious fundamentalism is a major cause for religious violence with both Hindu nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism that are prevalent in India. Major conflicts include the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, the riots in Mumbai in 1992, the 2002 Gujarat violence, and the 2007 Orissa Violence. Lesser incidents happen in many towns and villages of India. In the Kashmir region, many Kashmiri Pandits have been killed by Islamist militants in incidents such as the Wandhama massacre and the 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre. Since March 1990, nearly 250,000 pandits have migrated outside Kashmir due to persecution by Islamic fundamentalists. Thus more than 1,000,000 people were affected by religious fundamentalism during 1984-2009 in India. Yet, religion remains as important to the average Indians as the air they breathe and the food they eat. In judging the overall religious freedom, the US State Department in its annual reports on religious freedom for 2007 noted signs of improvement in India along with Saudi Arabia and Vietnam compared to Iran, Iraq, Burma, Eritrea, North Korea, China and Egypt.