Christian leader raps anti-conversion law in Orissa

The last thing Kandhamal Christians would not want is an anti-conversion law in action. Not only it is a no-no in terms of freedom of religion, it also mostly leads to the imprisonment of church leaders on false accusations.

Last year, after violence erupted on Christians in riot-stricken Kandhamal, the state government, including the chief minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik, was calling for the implementation of the already-existing anti-conversion law that was identical to those in neighboring states.

Patnaik told reporters that the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), 1967, "announced several years ago must be now implemented." And now with the recent Mohapatra Commission identifying 'conversion' as one of the causes for violence, the call gets a boost.

Understandably, the Christian community opposed it and it also drew flak from the Archbishop of Orissa, Raphael Cheenath. The Christian leader said the law was against the spirit of the Constitution.

"We are against freedom of religion act as its provisions are opposed to the spirit of the Constitution," the archbishop told reporters.

He patently pointed that such a law restricts the freedom of religion by demanding people to obtain government permission before conversion.

His opposition to the anti-conversion law has come just days after the UPA government promised to repeal the controversial law that was in force in several states.

The law makes it mandatory for the concerned district collectors to be informed before anyone changing his or her religion.