The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised to enact an anti-conversion law if elected to government in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India.  The party won the election and now looks set to fulfill that promise.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri on April 15 said that his government would introduce a law to ban “conversions with allurement or fraudulent means” in the upcoming session of the Assembly . . .
. . .
A representative of the Christian Legal Association told Compass that the “sole motive” behind proposing anti-conversion bills is to make it easier for Hindu extremists to thwart Christian work, adding that it was “worrisome” that the number of states with an anti-conversion law was increasing.

If BJP goes ahead with the promised bill, Uttarakhand will be the eighth Indian state with so-called Freedom of Religion Acts.  Such anti-conversion laws are widely used by Hindu extremists as pretexts to harass and attack Christians.

A leader of the Hindu nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) has called for enactment of a national anti-conversion law.

h/t: Persecuted Church Weblog

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