Sandeep: "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''.
Response: I believe the Supreme Court ruling was flawed. Refer critique given below. Excerpts: Quote: "And, although many legal luminaries believe that the 1977 judgment was unconstitutional, since it has been ruled by the Apex Court, we must abide by it. This means, as of now, Christians have the right only to communicate their beliefs or expose the tenets of Christianity to others, and not to convert. However, if the person to whom the faith is propagated is convinced and wants to profess or practice on his own volition, he or she has the right to do so." Unquote. http://www.combatlaw.org/information.php?article_id=949&issue_id=34 To me conversions are a non-issue for the following reasons: 1.The population of christians in India has shown a steady decline from 2.7% to 2.3% as per the last census. 2.The anti-conversion laws have been on the statute in some states like Orissa, MP, Arunachal Pradesh for over 30-40 years. During this time there has not been a single case of conviction. This puts paid to the false propaganda expounded by the sangh parivar. 3. In today's world there can be no 'forced conversion' unless backed by the power of the state. Ironically, it is the VHP which is indulging in forced conversion in Orissa and elsewhere. Refer: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/19/orissa-violence-india-christianity-hinduism http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13213 http://www.zeenews.com/Nation/2008-10-03/473823news.html http://orissaburning.blogspot.com/2008/08/great-conversions-lie.html 4.The bogey of 'forced conversions' in reality exposes the true intentions of the the Sangh Parivar, whose ideologue Golwalkar expounded, "The foreign races in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no ideas but those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture[..] or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment — not even citizen's rights.' http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/10/26/stories/2008102650150500.htm 5.The underlying objection to conversions is the fact that the missionaries by uplifting the poorest of the poor by providing them education and healthcare has removed them from the expoitative clutches of vested interests. Regards, Marshall
