India's Supreme Court: Nobody Has "Right to Convert"

[Guest guest]

India's Supreme Court: Nobody Has "Right to Convert"

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/

articleshow?msid=162018

 

NEW DELHI: There is no such thing as a fundamental right to convert any

person to one's own religion, and the government can impose certain

restrictions keeping in view public order, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The court's ruling came while dismissing a petition challenging an

Orissa law requiring police verification of all religious conversions.

Citing the SC's landmark 1977 ruling in Rev. Stanislaus vs Madhya

Pradesh, a Bench of Chief Justice V N Khare and Justice S B Sinha said

that "what is freedom for one is freedom for the other, in equal

measure."

 

At dispute was a 1999 provision added to the Orissa Freedom of Religion

Act, 1967, stipulating that a person wanting to convert to a particular

religion must make a personal declaration which would be verified by

the police also. Petitioner's counsel Janardhan Das said this provision

was unwarranted as it makes a person wanting to convert to a religion

of his choice a suspect in the eyes of law. As early as 1976, the

Orissa High Court had struck down as unconstitutional the Orissa Act.

It quashed all criminal proceedings against those who were alleged to

have resorted to conversion through inducement or by "force" or

"fraud." It had also held that the Act violated Article 25 (1) of the

Constitution which guarantees propagation of religion and conversion --

something the petitioners had argued "is a part of the Christian

religion."

 

On appeal, however, the SC in 1977 overturned the decision. Recalling

that judgment by a Constitution Bench headed by the then Chief Justice

A N Ray, the apex court said on Tuesday: "What Article 25(1) grants is

not the right to convert another person to one's own religion, but to

transmit or spread one's religion by an exposition of its tenets."

Thus, the court said, it must be remembered that Article 25(1)

guarantees "freedom of conscience to every citizen, and not merely to

the followers of one particular religion." It said: "The Article

postulates that there is no fundamental right to convert another person

to one's own religion because if a person purposely undertakes the

conversion of another person to his religion, that would impinge on the

freedom of conscience guaranteed to all the citizens of the country

alike."

[Guest guest]

There has been a lot of abuse on the part of the ''converters'' who use abusive techniques to convert others, only for their own personal after-death benefit.

 

They debase and humiliate the religion or beliefs of others in order to convert them. Often times, they resort to intimidating tactics and fear to convert uneducated people. Oftentimes, they use lies.

 

Uneducated people, or gullible, or vulnerable people need the protection of the law.

[Dervish]

So how does Naga Sankirtan fit into this ruling?

[ShegavichaRana]

Your post brought back the memories of an incident that my brother narrated to me when he was in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His friend told him this. In the nearby tribal region, the "converters" were busy doing their job. One poor tribal man was on his way home and the way was deserted and remote from the town. Suddenly he saw a jeep and a few conerters in it, who promptly stopped there and asked him to board the vehicle. He was very happy to get a lift. A few minutes later, suddenly the jeep came to a halt and the tribal man was perplexed as they were far from reaching their destination. The driver ("converter") turned back and murmured that there was some fault in the jeep. AFter some thought, he asked the tribal man (a Hindu) to recite the name of 'his God'. The poor man, not knowing such tricks, promptly, started to recite, Devi, Shiva, Krishna etc. but the jeep did not budge. The converter declared that, the tribal's Gods were useless as they could not start the jeep. Then he declared saying that, he would recite the name of "his God", saying so, he recited few lines simultaneously taking off his foot from the break. And lo! the jeep started! Another poor helpless man was converted that day! Will God forgive such people? We were told that this is just one such trick, there are many more!

[Guest guest]

Dear god, How far can they stoop to get people converted?

Have Hindoos become so gullible?

Its very nice that you have posted this.