Jaipur: Muslim organisations and civil society groups have sharply criticised the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Bill, 2025, describing it as a tool to harass minorities. The Bill, passed on September 10, excludes reconversion to Hinduism from its scope, a provision the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has called discriminatory.
Groups including Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) argue that the legislation gives sweeping powers to police and risks promoting what they termed a “bulldozer culture.” They warned that the law criminalises ordinary religious interactions while granting protection to reconversions into Hinduism.
SQR Ilyas, spokesperson for AIMPLB, noted that even inviting a friend to a community meal could be interpreted as inducement for conversion. “Yet the same actions are permitted if they involve Hindu reconversion. This creates an unequal law,” he said.
SDPI vice-president Mohammed Shafi added that making offences non-bailable and requiring prior permission from district magistrates violates fundamental rights. “It turns a private decision into a state-controlled process, stripping away liberty and privacy,” he argued.
Women’s rights groups also raised concerns. Yasmeen Farooqui of Women India Movement said the Bill restricts women’s freedom of choice and reinforces patriarchal control over interfaith marriages.
At Ajmer’s Dargah Sharif, Syed Sarwar Chishti cautioned that even respectful gestures by non-Muslim visitors could later be misinterpreted as evidence of conversion activity. PUCL president Kavita Srivastava described the law as unconstitutional and damaging to democracy.
Legal experts and rights activists have urged the Rajasthan government to withdraw or amend the Bill, warning of constitutional challenges and deeper communal divides.
