Bombay Archdiocese warns Maharashtra religion law threatens minority rights

MUMBAI, Maharashtra (Indian Catholic News) — The Archdiocese of Bombay has warned that Maharashtra’s new Freedom of Religion Act could intimidate religious minorities, saying its concern lies not with preventing forced conversions but with how similar laws have been enforced.

India’s largest Catholic diocese, with over 500,000 Catholics, expressed “deep concern” after Indian President Droupadi Murmu approved the legislation, and Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma forwarded it to the state government for notification. The law will come into force only after the state government issues a notification specifying its effective date.

The statement, issued by the archdiocese’s press office August 1, said Maharashtra has become the 13th Indian state to enact a stringent anti-conversion law, joining states where similar legislation has “been used more often to intimidate religious minorities than to address genuine instances of wrongdoing.”

The archdiocese stressed that the Catholic Church “has always unequivocally condemned conversion through force, fraud, coercion or inducement.”

“Our concern, therefore, is not with the stated objective of preventing forced or fraudulent conversion, but with the manner in which laws of this nature have repeatedly been drafted, interpreted and enforced across the country,” the statement said.

It added that experience in other states raises “serious concerns” that such laws place “a disproportionate burden on Christian communities, inter-faith couples and others exercising the constitutionally protected freedom to profess, practise and propagate their faith under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.”

Concerns over key provisions

The archdiocese said several provisions of the new law could be vulnerable to misuse.

It said terms such as “allurement,” “undue influence” and “misrepresentation” are “not precisely defined” and, in other states, have been interpreted to include “ordinary religious, educational, charitable and healthcare work carried out by churches, seminaries and mission institutions.”

The statement also questioned provisions allowing blood relatives to file complaints without the consent of the person who changed religion, saying they raise concerns about “an adult’s right to make an independent decision of conscience.”

It further warned that police powers to act on their own initiative could create “scope for undue scrutiny or surveillance of prayer meetings, schools, hospitals and social-service centres run by minority institutions.”

The archdiocese also expressed concern over provisions reversing the burden of proof and making offences non-bailable, saying they “can place the accused at a severe disadvantage from the outset” and lead to “prolonged incarceration even in cases where allegations are later found to be without basis.”

Impact on minorities

The statement said the law comes amid “a documented rise in incidents of intimidation directed at churches and institutions in India engaged in education, healthcare and social work.”

It warned that “ordinary acts of charity and pastoral service could be misconstrued as inducement,” forcing Christian institutions to defend their work “before the police and courts, rather than being able to focus on serving the communities they were established to uplift.”

The archdiocese also said similar legislation elsewhere has become “entangled with narratives surrounding inter-faith marriage,” often being used “to harass couples and families rather than to address any genuine coercion.”

More broadly, it warned that “a law intended to prevent coercion could instead be weaponised as an instrument of harassment, social boycott and vigilante action,” leaving an accused person “presumed guilty in the court of public opinion long before any judicial finding has been made.”

Calls for safeguards and dialogue

The Archdiocese of Bombay urged the Maharashtra government to ensure “adequate safeguards, clear definitions and procedural protections” while framing rules to implement the law “to prevent its misuse against minority communities.”

It also encouraged affected individuals and institutions to document any harassment and seek redress through the National Commission for Minorities and the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission.

Reaffirming its commitment to “the constitutional values of liberty, equality and fraternity,” the archdiocese said it remains “ready to engage in dialogue with the State Government” to ensure efforts to prevent fraudulent or coercive conversions “do not come at the cost of the fundamental rights of any community.”

Read the press note.