Christian groups welcomed a surprise announcement by a nationalist chief minister of a state in north-east India that he will ensure that a law preventing conversions from one faith to another is repealed, it was reported in July.
Pema Khandu, a Buddhist and chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, told an audience that he would have the 1978 Freedom of Religion Act repealed in the next session of the Legislative Assembly.
Heavy restrictions
He said the law, which, in sharp contrast to its name, places heavy restrictions on religious conversions, ‘could undermine secularism and is probably targeted towards Christians’. (In India, talk of ‘secularism’ relates to treating all religions with equal respect, rather than the separation of religion and politics.)
