On Tuesday, 9 September, the state assembly of Rajasthan, a northwestern state in India, passed The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill 2025 with rigid and stringent provisions.
According to “The Hindu” news outlet, India’s Hindutva led government introduced the Rajasthan Dharma Swatantrya Bill (The Rajasthan Religious Freedom Bill) in 2006 that sought to ban forced religious conversions. The former State Governor then refused to approve it as a law, stating its provision violates the religious freedom the Indian Constitution offers its people.
The bill continued to be introduced on several occasions but never came into effect as a law.
A similar bill was tabled in the state assembly in February 2025 but was withdrawn and replaced with the current new bill. However, on 9 September 2025, the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, also known as the Anti-Conversion Bill, was passed by the State Assembly during the monsoon session to prevent religious conversions.
According to another news platform, The New India Express, to curb unlawful or forced conversions, the Bill carries a few stringent provisions including:
- Life imprisonment and fine up to 1 crore INR (10 million dollars)—to put this into context, in February of this year, the punishment was imprisonment up to 10 years.
- All offenses related to religious conversion are non-bailable, limiting bail access
- Demolition and confiscation of properties in mass conversion
- Marriages performed for the purpose of unlawful conversion could be annulled by family courts or competent courts.
- Voluntary conversions will now require prior permission from the district administration.
The opposition parties walked out in protest against the Bill stating it would create communal tension and break the harmony. Several Christian organisations and leaders have challenged the Bill against Article 25 of the Indian Constitution— granting the fundamental right to freedom of religion to all citizens.
Indian Christians Always Under Threat
Open Doors local partner, Shiv Rathod* says, “With the passing of this Bill in the State Assembly, the most vulnerable are the Christians. In the last one and a half years, more than 150 persecution incidents have been reported in Rajasthan, where pastors have been arrested on false charges of coercive conversion, church services disrupted, and many house churches closed. Christian believers are threatened to renounce their faith and return to their old religion. The law also states that those who return to their ancestral religion will be exempted from the law.”
Shiv further shares, “If the Bill gets the approval and is executed as law, there will be strict monitoring and surveillance on Christian activities. Non-bailable false cases or forceful conversion will be registered against pastors and Christian leaders. Every goodwill work carried out by Christian organisations will be labelled as an allurement for conversion. The Hindutva extremist will misuse the law against the Christians, and more incidents of persecution will be reported.”
Open Doors partners are reaching out to the persecuted Church with prayers, presence ministry and persecution preparedness programs to strengthen the church amidst the challenges.
Open Doors’ partner, Priya Sharma*, shares, “These developments by the religious fundamentalist’s government pose a threat to the secularism of the country and restrict freedom of expression, freedom of religion and assembly. With such stricter laws, these states are propagating one of the agendas of the Central Government: One Nation, One Religion. Please pray for the protection and strength of the Christians in Rajasthan and other parts of the country. Christians and other minorities are always under threat and most vulnerable with such punitive laws.”
*Name changed for security purposes
Please pray:
- Pray for God’s intervention in the state Governor’s approval on the proposed Anti-Conversion Bill.
- Pray for the Christian community in Rajasthan and all the Christian leaders, pastors, and believers, that they unite in planning and respond to the law. May God protect them in current challenging situations.
- Pray for the government officials of Rajasthan; may the Lord transform their hearts.
- Pray for peace in the Christian community and among the people of Rajasthan.
- Pray that the churches in Rajasthan be safe, and may the believers worship the Lord with all freedom.
- Pray for the local Open Doors’ team so they may strategically respond to the situation.
Stay updated with the latest prayer requests from the persecuted church.
