Allahabad High Court Raises Alarm Over Unlawful Religious Conversions in Uttar Pradesh

On July 1, 2024: The Allahabad High Court made a significant observation while hearing a case concerning the unlawful conversion of religion. In Kailash v. State of UP, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal made the observation while dismissing the bail plea of an accused under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The Court was told that the informant’s brother was taken away from his village to attend a gathering of “well-being” at Delhi. Along with him a number of persons from the village were also taken there to convert them to Christianity.

The court expressed concerns over the potential demographic shift that could result from such activities. The bench stated,

“If this process is allowed to be carried out, the majority population of this country would be in minority one day. Such religious congregations should be immediately stopped where conversion is taking place and changing the religion of citizens of India.”

“The court highlighted the rampant pace of unlawful conversions in Uttar Pradesh, particularly targeting Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and economically disadvantaged individuals. The bench noted, “It has come to the notice of this Court in several cases that unlawful activity of conversion of people of SC/ST caste and other castes including economically poor persons into Christianity is being done at a rampant pace throughout Uttar Pradesh.”

This statement higlights the judiciary’s stance on protecting the demographic structure and addressing the issue of forced or unlawful religious conversions which are going on rampant pace.