India’s Harshest Anti-Conversion Law Approved in Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Uttarakhand state, India last week passed an amendment to its controversial anti-conversion law expanding punishment to life imprisonment.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government managed to introduce the Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2025 during an assembly session that turned chaotic over alleged Panchayat (local council) rigging. The amendment expands penalties from the current maximum of 10 years in prison to life imprisonment, with fines reaching 1 million Indian Rupees ($11,446 USD) for “forced conversions.”

The bill, passed in a short session of the Assembly on Wednesday (Aug. 20), introduces India’s most chilling restrictions on freedom of religion and speech. Among concerning provisions are measures that criminalize “propaganda on social or digital media” as participation in religious conversion, with the government stating that “acts like promoting or inciting conversion through social media, messaging app or any online medium” will now be forbidden and punishable.

“When laws criminalize social media discussions about faith, they threaten every citizen’s fundamental right to religious expression in the digital age,” said the Rev. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India. “These provisions, with penalties up to life imprisonment, represent some of India’s harshest anti-conversion measures and could turn ordinary conversations about belief into criminal acts.”

The law reserves its harshest penalties for conversions involving what the state considers vulnerable populations. Cases involving minors, women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, disabled or mentally challenged persons now carry five to 14 years imprisonment and a fine of at least 100,000 Indian Rupees ($1,150 USD). Mass conversions bring seven to 14 years imprisonment, while conversions with foreign or external funding will result in seven to 14 years in prison and a fine of at least 1 million Indian Rupees ($11,446 USD).

The most stringent punishment of 20 years to life imprisonment and a fine of at least 1 million Indian Rupees applies to conversions using force, threat, inducement, trafficking or promise of marriage. Those concealing their religion for marriage purposes face three to 10 years’ imprisonment and a 300,000 Indian Rupees ($3,434 USD) fine.

“Since the bill was introduced, pastors have been calling me,” Rohit Singh, an attorney in Uttarakhand state, told Morning Star News. “Many have removed their sermons and social media posts from online platforms. Some pastors are thinking of leaving the state. Online donations have almost stopped to churches and Christian organizations as no one wants to get in trouble. I think our rights have ended in India now.”

Notably, the anti-conversion amendment faced no legislative opposition despite recent expressions of concern from leaders in the Indian National Congress party about attacks on Christians. While the Congress disrupted proceedings over elections of panchayats (local village councils), the party made no effort to challenge legislation that religious minorities warn could be misused against them.

“It’s telling that while Congress leaders write letters to the Prime Minister about attacks on Christians in other states, the same party offers no opposition when harsh anti-conversion laws are passed,” Lal told Morning Star News. “This shows how Christian concerns are treated as politically expendable when there are no significant Christian vote banks at stake.”

The amendment requires assent of the state governor, which is largely expected as there is no opposition from the Congress party. Hence the amended law is likely to go into effect soon, although no date or timeline has been made public for the governor’s assent.

Officials framing the legislation expanded the anti-conversion law to include penalties for “portraying the practices, rituals and ceremonies of any religion or any integral part thereof in a prejudicial manner in relation to any other religion; or glorifying one religion as against another will also be considered allurement.”

The legislation also criminalizes vaguely defined online activities with ambiguous wording that leaves Christian social media groups, religious discussion forums and faith-based community platforms vulnerable to prosecution.

“Anti-conversion laws are weaponized through vague terminology, procedural abuses and selective enforcement,” John Dayal, spokesman for the All India Catholic Union, told Morning Star News. “Terms like ‘force,’ ‘fraud’ and ‘allurement’ are broadly interpreted to include acts like distributing Bibles or providing medical aid.”

Mainstream editorial opinion has condemned the legislation as overreach. The Times of India editorial board described the amendments as “draconian” and “poorly designed legislation” that “demands a thorough review, or reversal,” noting it will create a system where “anyone can be arrested on mere suspicion of ‘intent’” and “the accused’s property can be seized.”

Especially troubling are provisions allowing district magistrates to confiscate properties based on mere suspicion of connection to alleged conversion activities, critics said. The law permits seizure of any property officials have “reason to believe” is related to conversion, “regardless, whether a court has taken cognizance of such offense.” Such executive overreach allows property confiscation without evidence, court oversight or due process, they said.

The legislation introduces sweeping enforcement measures that civil liberties advocates say violate basic constitutional rights. All offenses become cognizable and non-bailable and therefore can be tried only in sessions courts. Police can arrest without warrants, while bail will be granted only if courts are convinced of the accused’s innocence and likelihood of not reoffending.

Dayal condemned the enforcement provisions as “a complete assault on constitutional rights.”

“These powers of arrest without warrant and property confiscation before conviction create a climate of fear designed to intimidate minority communities, particularly Christians, who constitute only 0.37 percent of Uttarakhand’s population,” he said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami justified the amendment, citing alleged “demographic change” wrought through “illegal/forced conversions” in the state. Uttarakhand’s population, however, remains 83 percent Hindu and about 14 percent Muslim, with only a small percentage of Christians and others.

The 2025 amendment represents the latest escalation in Uttarakhand’s anti-conversion law trajectory, building on legislation first introduced in 2018 and amended in 2022. The 2022 amendment imported provisions from anti-terror legislation, making “illegal conversion” a cognizable, non-bailable offense requiring no warrant for arrest, with the burden of proof lying with the accused.

The legislation continues a pattern of increasingly restrictive “anti-conversion” laws that Hindu extremists routinely use to falsely accuse Christians of forced conversion.

“Twenty years ago it used to be the police that troubled you and disrupted worship services, but now non-state actors come along with the police as if they are law enforcement and engage in all sorts of disturbances and vandalism,” attorney Singh said. “This is a big change.”

Uttarakhand’s 2018 Freedom of Religion Act was the seventh such law in India, joining Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand states.

A.C. Michael, convenor of the United Christian Forum, condemned the amendments as “in complete violation of the Constitution of India, which states that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.”

He noted that during a May 16 Supreme Court hearing on Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law, the court observed that “some parts of it seemed to be in violation of the fundamental right to religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution.”

Concerns of Christian leaders extend beyond legal technicalities to fundamental questions about India’s democratic values. The Rev. Richard Howell, principal of Caleb Theological Institute, argues that the debate has shifted from procedural matters to deeper issues of religious liberty and social cohesion.

“The current fight is not only about law,” Howell told Morning Star News. “It is also about conscience, pluralism and the meaning of Christian love and witness. Courts and bills decide procedures. But they cannot tell us what freedom of belief means, how many voices a democracy should hold, or why a church feeds the hungry with no strings attached. The real question is simple – can Indians still choose faith freely, live side by side with deep differences and serve one another without suspicion?”

There is a broader pattern to what is happening in Uttarakhand, as the amendment reflects part of a larger national shift that has made practicing Christianity increasingly precarious. The hostile stance of the Narendra Modi government’s Hindu nationalist agenda has emboldened attacks on Christians across India since 2014, religious rights advocates say.

“As more and more state governments come up with laws that can hinder the practice of Christianity, it is becoming clearer that the political environment in our country is against Christians,” Michael said. “Moreover, it is increasingly evident from the number of incidents of violence against Christians that jumped from little over 100 in 2014 to more than 800 in 2024 that it is dangerous for Christians to practice their faith in India.”

For many Christians facing this reality, faith remains their response to an uncertain future.

“Whatever happens to our community and our churches, here in Uttarakhand or anywhere in India, everything is in God’s hands,” Singh said.

Christian support organization Open Doors ranks India 11th on its 2025 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. India stood at 31st place in 2013 but has steadily fallen in the rankings since Modi came to power as prime minister.

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