Ahamed Yaseen S – VIT School of Law
ABSTRACT
Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right to believe, declare and operate or perform something based upon their conviction. Such rights are accepted under various international instruments like Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, etc. These rights are very essential for countries that have diverse religions, so that, all religions are protected and well looked after. India is one such state that has people following different religions and different cultures. It is a secular state and the freedom of religion is provided under the Indian Constitution. This paper aspires to trace back the history of religious freedom in India, and its acceptance towards new incoming religions. It further tries to find out how people relished this freedom of religion in the light of conversion, and compare it with the developing anti-conversion laws. These laws regulate religious conversions, their validity and invalidity on certain grounds. The paper furthermore attempts to understand the evolution of anti-conversion laws in India over time, and its influence on the freedom of conversion of religion.
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