[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 148 (Friday, November 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2048-E2049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          CONVERSION BAN IN INDIA SHOWS IT IS NOT A DEMOCRACY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, the party that controls the national 
government in India, the BJP, has enacted a ban on religious 
conversions in Tamil Nadu, a state which it controls. The law prohibits 
anyone from converting to any religion except Hinduism. Anyone who 
converts to a religion other than Hinduism can be imprisoned and can 
face a heavy fine. It officially targets conversions ``by force, 
allurement, or fraudulent means,'' but aren't all conversions by 
``allurement,'' that ism, by persuasion presented by another person?
  Effectively, the new law prevents all conversions, except conversions 
to Hinduism. This is part of the fundamentalist Hindu nationalists' 
drive for Hindutva--a totally Hindu-dominated culture. ``Even if one 
converts of one's own free will, those involved in the conversion can 
be punished on the grounds that it's a forced conversion,'' said former 
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Yet the BJP and other groups 
under the umbrella of its parent organization, the RSS, have been 
forcibly reconverting people to Hinduism after they have converted to 
other religions of their own free will.
  According to the Washington Times of November 11, a Dalit group, the 
Dalit Panthers of India, is planning to have 25,000 of its members 
convert to Christianity. Another group of 10,000 Dalits in Chennai plan 
to convert to Buddhism on December 6 if this unjustified law is not 
repealed by then. Dalits, or ``Untouchables,'' are the lowest caste in 
Hinduism and their continuing oppression is essential to the 
preservation of the repressive Hindu social order.
  It is clear once again that there is no religious freedom in India. 
India's claims to be democratic are a lie if people cannot freely 
choose something as basic as their religion.
  This is more evidence that India is not the democracy it claims to 
be. America must speak up for the rights of all people in South Asia by 
cutting off our aid and trade to India, by imposing the sanctions the 
law mandates for violators of religious freedom, and by declaring 
openly our support for self-determination. Why can't the country that 
proudly claims to be the world's largest democracy settle its minority 
issues through a free and fair vote? That is the way that democratic 
countries do it, and it is the way world powers do it. As long as India 
refuses to do it, it will not be a member of either category.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the article I referred to before 
into the Record at this time for additional information about the 
conversion ban.

          [lsqb]From the Washington Times, Nov. 11, 2002[rsqb]

                 A Sawdust Trail for Low-Caste Hindus?

                       (By Shaikh Azizur Rahman)

       New Delhi.--Low-caste Hindus in the southern Indian state 
     of Tamil Nadu are threatening to embrace Christianity, 
     Buddhism, or Islam to protest a new law that outlaws 
     religious conversion.
       A bill passed into law by the state legislature last month 
     penalizes those who convert to a religion other than Hinduism 
     with imprisonment and a hefty fine.
       While religious minorities in Tamil Nadu plan to challenge 
     the law in court, many Hindus from so-called ``untouchable 
     castes,'' known as Dalits, are threatening to publicly defy 
     the new law.
       One group of Dalit Hindus in the state capital, Chennai, 
     said that a group of 10,000 will convert to Buddhism on Dec. 
     6 if the law is not revoked.
       Another group, known as the Dalit Panthers of India 
     [lsqb]DPI[rsqb], pledged that 25,000 of its members would 
     become Christians to protest what they called an 
     ``unjustified'' decree. ``The upper class has been torturing 
     the Dalits for centuries, and now, by passing the bill, the 
     government has decided to shackle us in a society where we 
     are denied even our basic democratic rights,'' said one Dalit 
     activist, who identified himself by the Christian name 
     Emmanuel. On Oct. 31, Tamil Nadu became the first--but 
     probably not the last--Indian state to outlaw religious 
     conversions. Though the law targets conversions ``by force, 
     allurement or fraudulent means,'' opponents say the language 
     offers the means to challenge all conversions to faiths other 
     than Hinduism.
       ``Even if one changes one's religion of one's own free 
     will, those involved in the conversion can be punished on the 
     ground that it's a case of forced conversion,'' said M. 
     Karunanidhi a former chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The new 
     law was welcomed by Hindu fundamentalists, who govern the 
     nation in a coalition led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya 
     Janata Party (BJP).
       ``The BJP is strongly of the view that this law is most 
     necessary for the whole country. Lots of money is coming into 
     the country from Islamic organizations to aid conversions,'' 
     said BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu. Ashok Singhal, leader 
     of the World Hindu Council (VHP), hailed the law as a 
     ``timely and bold step'' and he urged other states to pass 
     similar laws.
       The issue of religious conversion has long been a source of 
     strife in India. While federal law allows Indians to change 
     their faith, the ruling BJP makes no secret of its dislike of 
     the practice, while its ruling partner--the VHP party--views 
     conversions as betrayal.
       Opponents of the new law warn it will only trigger an even 
     larger exodus of Hindus to other faiths.
       The Global Council of Indian Christians said it was 
     ``alarmed by the hurriedly promulgated ordinance,'' and 
     called it ``the most heinous violation of religious freedom 
     aimed at targeting Christian missionaries engaged in poverty 
     alleviation and spreading the light of education.'' The All-
     India Christian People's Forum said that it went against the 
     core of the Constitution. ``This ordinance is uncalled for, 
     unwarranted and smacks of a pro-Hindu ideological bias of the 
     government''.
       ``The bill runs foul of Article 25 [lsqb]25[rsqb] of the 
     Indian Constitution, which grants freedom of conscience and 
     free profession, practice and propagation of religion to 
     every Indian citizen,'' the group said.
       Dominic Emmanuel, director of New Delhi Catholic 
     Archdiocese, called the measure,

[[Page E2049]]

     ``an assault as much on civil rights as on human dignity.''
       John Daya, secretary-general of the Christian Council in 
     New Delhi, said: ``In fact, the only inducements by fraud and 
     fear are those being carried out by [lsqb]Hindu 
     organizations[rsqb] in the tribal belt, where innocent 
     tribals are being forced to become Hindus.''
       Muslims, too, are concerned. ``How can conversions be 
     prevented if an individual is attracted to another religion 
     because of his or her faith in it? Force is never used to 
     convert one to Islam because it is against the basic tenets 
     of [lsqb]Islam[rsqb],'' said Maolana Siddikullah Chowdhury, 
     general secretary of the Jamiat-e-Ulema party in Calcutta.
       He added that low-caste Hindus converted to Islam simply to 
     ``escape discrimination and ill treatment'' and not under any 
     coercion.

     

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