The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has tightened its existing anti-conversion law, adding life imprisonment as a sentence for those convicted of forcibly converting another person.
The amended Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2024, was passed by the state assembly on 30 July and will come into effect after the governor has signed it.
Fraudulent or illegal conversions are those that are the result of force, marriage, undue influence, coercion, inducement, or any fraudulent means.
Under the original law (2021), a complaint against forced conversion could only be filed by the victim or a blood relative. However, once the new bill is signed, anyone can go to the police to lodge a complaint.
Those who are arrested and charged with violating the new regulation will go to prison without the possibility of applying for bail, with the maximum prison sentence of 10 years being increased to life imprisonment.
Intensified Persecution of the Christian Community
An Open Doors local partner shares that church leaders are scared. “They anticipate fearful times ahead as the new amendments will accelerate and intensify the persecution of the Christian community,” says Abhay Kumar, whose real name cannot be mentioned for security reasons
“First-generation Christians will feel the immediate effect as they will be intensely targeted, and house churches and their pastors will be viewed as anti-national,” he says.
India’s National Council of Churches also released a statement to condemn the new regulations: “We object to this law in so far as it violates the provisions of the Indian Constitution. Conversion itself is not an offence unless induced by undue influence, misrepresentation, or coercion, which only the victim can claim.
“The anti-conversion law encroaches on the constitutional right to freely practice and profess religion, a fundamental human right recognised by both the Indian Constitution and international human rights standards.”
Anti-Conversion Law Targets Minorities
Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest and most populous state, first adopted an ‘anti conversion law’ in 2021, allegedly to outlaw what Hindu nationalist groups have called “Love Jihad”— the accusation that Muslim men lure Hindu girls into marriages and forcibly convert them.
Anti-conversion laws have been implemented in 12 Indian states where they have been used by Hindu nationalist groups to target religious minorities like Christians and Muslims. However, so far only a few people have been convicted under these laws.
Uttar Pradesh is majority Hindu (70%) with an estimated 22% Muslim and 0.25% Christian. In June at least 13 Christians were arrested on charges of conversion activities.
As of this month, nearly 30 pastors are in prison, says local partner, Rekha Verma, who also did not want her real name to be mentioned for security reasons.
India is 11th on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian.
Pray for India
- Ask God to give our Indian brothers and sisters His courage, boldness, and peace despite the uncertainty they face.
- Pray that God brings healing and lasting peace to the Hindu-majority region.
- Pray for those who are unjustly imprisoned, that they will know the true freedom of Christ, being filled with joy of belonging to Hi
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