Sign before praying: A new conversion law is affecting churchgoers in Indian state

What the report says

Churches near Mumbai are asking worshippers to sign informal declarations saying they have come to pray voluntarily, according to BBC World News, as India’s western state of Maharashtra begins enforcing a new anti-conversion law. The forms are not official state documents, but congregations are keeping them as a precaution in case prayer meetings are later challenged as attempts to convert attendees. The law took effect in late August and bars conversions through force, fraud, coercion or inducement, while also requiring people who want to convert by choice to notify authorities in advance.

The BBC reports that the law has intensified concern among Christians and other minorities who fear ordinary worship or interfaith gatherings could attract police scrutiny. Legal aid workers and churchgoers described questions being raised about names, motives and whether anyone had offered benefits to those attending services. The article notes that some recent prayer meetings around Mumbai were disrupted earlier this year, with police cases following in several incidents.

Maharashtra’s government says the measure is meant to protect vulnerable people from being pressured into changing religion, but critics argue its language is broad and could be used to harass believers or interfere in private decisions. The law is one of many state-level anti-conversion rules in India, a broader trend that human-rights and religious-freedom advocates say has made interfaith worship and marriages more difficult, especially in BJP-governed states. The BBC’s reporting highlights the tension between preventing abuse and preserving the freedom to choose or practice a faith.