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RAJASTHAN, INDIA, March 18, 2005: (HPI note: The following is from a Christian website.) The Northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan wants to adopt an anti-conversion law over the objections of the local Christian community, Asian news agencies reported Wednesday. On March 24, the state legislature is scheduled to vote on the bill. Tabled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)–the Hindu nationalist party–the bill would “curtail” missionaries’ attempts to convert people, according to Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria. “[We] cannot allow conversions to take place in our state,” Kataria told the state assembly, as reported by AsiaNews. According to the Italy-based news agency, Rajasthan Christian Churches have strongly condemned the bill, which some believe would give Christians and other religious minorities “a feeling of insecurity and fear.” Should it be adopted, the bill would punish those who induce or force others to convert their target by hook or crook.” Christians familiar with accusations of unethical conversions by India’s predominantly Hindu population have stressed the need for vigilance against efforts that may be seen as attempts to trick peasants into converting with promises of gifts of food and clothing. However, AsiaNews reported that even those churches that try to avoid being accused of unethical conversion by being committed only to human development projects such as schools, hospitals and dispensaries, have come under activist fire.

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