Chennai: Professor M. H. Jawahirullah, MLA and President of the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, welcomed the Supreme Court’s recent clarification that religious conversion was a matter of individual choice protected under the Constitution.
Referring to the Court’s decision quashing FIRs filed under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Act, Jawahirullah said the judgment reaffirmed that the right to choose one’s faith is a personal and fundamental right under Article 25, which guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice, and propagate religion.
“The Supreme Court has made it clear that conversion is a purely personal matter beyond the interference of the state,” he said. “It has drawn a parallel between the right to convert and the right of consenting adults to marry, both of which are protected under the Constitution.”
It is to noted that almost all the BJP ruled states have enacted anti- conversion laws which are allegedly being misused to harass Christian and Muslim communities.
Jawahirullah criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments for enacting and promoting anti-conversion laws, saying these measures violate individual freedoms and are politically motivated.
“This judgment is particularly significant as the BJP-led Assam government is now planning to introduce a similar law,” he said. “Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s repeated claims linking conversion to so-called ‘love jihad’ show that the proposed law is not about protecting freedom but about targeting minorities and policing personal beliefs.”
He pointed out that existing provisions in the Indian Penal Code already address forced or fraudulent conversions, making a new law unnecessary. “Instead of sowing mistrust among communities, the Assam government should work to strengthen inter-religious harmony, education, and employment,” Jawahirullah added.
