Is Religious Freedom Being Shackled?

Editorial

12 September 2026, 01 Rabi'ul Akhir 1448

Anti-conversion laws are being implemented in state after state across India. Although terms such as "force" and "inducement" are used, the provisions appear to go to the extent of restricting even the freedom to convert voluntarily. The fact that religious conversion ceremonies conducted under the name of "Ghar Wapsi" are treated as legal, while others are deemed illegal, makes it clear what the BJP governments are seeking to achieve. It does not require extraordinary intelligence to recognize this.

In a society that accepts and respects diversity, the rights guaranteed to citizens by the Constitution form the very core of democracy. One of the most important among these is the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution.

Subject to public order, morality, and the provisions of Part III of the Constitution, Article 25 grants all persons equal freedom of conscience and the freedom to freely profess, practise, and propagate religion. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right includes the freedom to change one's religion or belief, as well as the freedom to manifest one's religion or belief, either alone or in community with others, publicly or privately, through teaching, practice, worship, and observance. Therefore, the right to religious freedom is a human right guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

During the framing of the Constitution, the Minorities Committee established by the Constituent Assembly recommended the following:

"Since religions such as Islam and Christianity are proselytising faiths, it would be desirable to include the right to propagate religion as a fundamental right in the Constitution."

In our country, it is conversion brought about through force, fraud, or inducement that has been made unlawful. Neither the Constitution nor the Supreme Court has stated that a person has no right to undergo a change of faith. A change from one religion to another may occur as a result of two individuals exercising their fundamental rights lawfully. One person has the fundamental right to propagate their religion, while the other has the freedom of conscience and the right to believe in and practise the religion of their choice.

In a genuine and sincere conversion, one person does not forcibly change another person's religion. Rather, a person undergoes a change of heart, freely leaves their existing religion, and accepts a new religion according to their conviction and conscience.

It is clear that a person undergoing a change of faith and voluntarily embracing another religion is by no means contrary to Indian secularism. The Constitution recognizes an individual's right, through freedom of conscience and religious freedom, to voluntarily leave their religion and embrace a new one. However, such conversion must not take place through force, fraud, enticement, or inducement.

Therefore, changing one's religion to any faith, so long as it is not brought about through force, fraud, enticement, or inducement, should not be opposed under the law.