Rajasthan Passes Tough Law Against Forced Conversions; Offenders May Face Life Term

Jaipur: The religious conversions through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, fraudulent means, or marriage have become an offense in Rajasthan, as the governor of the state, Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde, has given assent to the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025. The said bill was passed by the state legislative assembly on September 9th.

The law provides for strict punishments, such as potential life imprisonment and fines up to ₹1 crore for offenders; however, Ghar Wapsi, i e., re-converting to one's immediate previous religion, is exempted from the law.

The law makes prior information of conversation to the district magistrate mandatory, and at the same time the burden of proof to show that a conversion is not unlawful will lie on the person who has caused the conversion and other persons who facilitated it.

The FIR against an unlawful conversion may be lodged by the aggrieved person and his specified relatives. These include parents, brother or sister, or any other person related by blood, marriage, or adoption.

The bill faced some opposition also, as some civil society organizations and religious outfits termed it draconian and a tool to spread majoritarian hatred.

“Our belief is that the Rajasthan Bill is a draconian law and is nothing but a tool of the BJP to spread the Sangh ideology of majoritarian hatred towards minorities and create an atmosphere of fear within the minority communities living in the state,” said the joint statement of organizations like the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Jamaat-e-Islami.