by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – In a move that appears to violate India’s constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion, the Hindu-nationalist-led state of Rajasthan has approved an anti-conversion law that provides prison terms for anyone who “unduly influences” a person to change their religion and requires citizens who want to change their faith to inform authorities 60 days in advance, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Rajasthan will become India’s 12th state to have anti-conversion legislation if the bill is passed by the state legislature during the winter assembly session. Notably, such laws in other Indian states have been abused to severely harass and persecute Christians.
Titled the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill 2024, the anti-conversion law provides that people found to have suffered unlawful conversions can be compensated up to 500,000 Indian rupees (about $590), while offenders may be imprisoned for up to 10 years, ICC explains in its report.
“It also stipulates that any individual who wishes to convert to another religion must notify the district authority at least 60 days in advance. Then, a notice of 30 days must be given for any ceremony for the conversion. Then again, after the conversion, the person concerned must inform the collector through an affidavit within 60 days,” ICC reports.
“These three layers of the conversion process make it formidable and controversial and could also likely contradict the country’s constitutional right to freedom of religion,” ICC notes.
The Indian states that already have anti-conversion laws in place are Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014, India ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed sorrow and ordered an immediate investigation after a fire erupted early Wednesday at a nursery for newborns in a major government hospital in Pakistan’s capital, killing more than a dozen babies.
The U.S. Supreme Court is again being asked to step into the national fight over whether states may require the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms, as new challenges from Louisiana and Texas push the issue toward a potentially major First Amendment showdown.
A U.S. foreign-aid watchdog has referred more than 100 current and former UNRWA employees for possible suspension or debarment after finding evidence tying them to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in Israel and/or affiliation with Hamas’s military wing.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday declaring a national emergency aimed at protecting the U.S. bulk-power system from foreign-made equipment that the White House says could expose America’s electric grid to cyber intrusion, sabotage, or supply-chain disruption.
A monk has been killed, and two other people seriously wounded after unidentified assailants attacked residents of one of Ukraine’s best-known Orthodox monasteries in the war-torn Donetsk region, church officials said.
Hungary’s new government has asked prosecutors to investigate suspected fraud and financial misconduct surrounding the previous administration’s purchase of nearly 17,000 Chinese ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic, while dozens of senior diplomats are being removed from their posts.
Ukraine has dramatically widened drone attacks deep inside Russia, striking military aircraft, vessels, energy facilities and warehouses, while Russian troops edged closer to the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk amid reports that Moscow could mobilize hundreds of thousands of additional soldiers.