Quoting temples as being centers of conversion, the Allahabad High Court recently directed that no religious congregation can be held. Out of these, the main protagonist of the case is Kailash, who has been alleged to have encouraged the people of Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh, to convert to Christianity.
The fellow accused of the FIR is stated to have converted the inhabitants of his official house, along with some other people, Ramphal, who is a mentally ill person, to Christianity while being taken by Kailash from a meeting in Delhi.
The counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government told the court that these meetings have also seen large-scale conversion amongst the public, especially from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the economically vulnerable sections of the society.
While passing the judgment, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwav stated that the Constitution of India’s Article 25 provides the freedom of conscience and the right to refrain from acting as per the inner voice and freedom to adopt conviction in religion but does not include the freedom of conversion.
The judge argued that if such conversion activities are permitted to go on, a majority population of the country could be one day turned into the minority.
It is interesting to also refer to the High Court, which has brought to the surface the increasing issues of alleged coercive religious conversions and their raw effect on demography.
The given order will remain and potentially pose serious repercussions and will prepare the ground for increased scrutiny and repression of the religious conversion activities in Uttar Pradesh.
