VITHALDAS HEGDE & KARSTEN MIRANDA
The Goa government’s proposed an ti-conversion law is facing widening opposition, with political leaders, Church bod ies, civil society groups, ac tivists and legal voices ques tioning why a State with no established record of wide spread forced conversions needs legislation carrying penalties as severe as life im prisonment. With the Goa Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion ofReligion Bill, 2026 sched uled to be introduced during the Assembly session be ginning August 31, criticism of the measure has moved well beyond the initial ob jections raised by minority groups. Across the political and social spectrum, critics are now converging on two fun damental questions – what evidence has the govern ment produced to establish the need for such a law, and what safeguards will prevent its sweeping pro visions from being used to police matters of faith, mar riage and personal choice? The Council for Social Jus tice and Peace (CSJP) and the Catholic Association of Goa (CAG) have demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Bill, warning that it could undermine Goa’s tra dition of coexistence by re placing trust with suspicion and religious freedom with surveillance.
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“Goa has long been dis tinguished by its culture of peaceful coexistence among people of different faiths. This proposed legislation risks irreparably damaging that precious inheritance by replacing mutual trust with suspicion, and social harmony with surveillance and fear,” said Fr Savio Fer nandes, Secretary of CSJP, and Cyril A Fernandes, President of CAG. The Church bodies stressed that they opposed conversion through force, fraud, threats or coercion, but maintained that such conduct was already pun ishable under existing crim inal laws. They also said the Catholic Church did not practise forced conversions and that its procedures re quired an adult seeking baptism to make a free and informed decision. “The Rite of Christian In itiation of Adults process, which typically spans sev eral months, is designed precisely to ensure that individuals make a well-in formed and voluntary deci sion regarding their faith,” Fr Savio and Cyril said. Their sharper concern centres on provisions relat ing to “allurement”, “undue influence” and conversion through marriage.
They warned that vague defini tions, coupled with provi sions allowing third parties to lodge complaints, could turn private relationships and legitimate religious ac tivity into matters of State scrutiny. “The term ‘allurement’ is especially dangerous when it is vague enough to turn education, medical assis tance, relief work, prayer for healing or ordinary neighbourly compassion into grounds for criminal accusation,” they said. “Once conversion is treat ed as inherently suspicious, almost any act of Christian witness or service may be misrepresented as induce ment,” they added. The Church bodies also warned that allowing rel atives, neighbours or po litical activists to trigger complaints could encour age interference in private religious choices. “Such provisions will set brother against brother, neighbour against neigh bour and community against community. They create incentives for rela tives, political activists and vigilante groups to monitor private relationships, dis rupt prayer meetings and lodge accusations against persons whose religious choices they dislike,” they said. “A law presented as pro tecting harmony may there fore become an instrument for destroying it,” they add ed. The Goa Muslim Forum has similarly opposed the legislation, making clear that its objection is not to action against coercive or fraudulent conversion but to the possibility of a new law becoming an instru ment of harassment. “Marriage between con senting adults and an indi vidual’s choice of religion are matters of personal liberty and dignity, and the State should protect these constitutional freedoms rather than unnecessarily restrict them,” the Forum said. “It is not just Christians who should worry. This is a weapon that threatens the freedom of citizens to decide which religion or ideology they want to fol low,” warned Dr John Day al, national spokesperson and former president of the All India Catholic Union (AICU).
Fr Visitacao Monteiro of Tivim also warned that the proposed legislation could damage Goa’s social fabric. “The proposed Bill in tends to disturb the harmo nious living of Goa’s com munities and make them enemies of one another. Therefore, this Bill should go to the dustbin of the House,” he said. The political opposition has been equally pointed, with questions increasing ly focused on the absence of publicly established evi dence demonstrating a con version problem in Goa. Goa Forward Party pres ident Vijai Sardesai has demanded that the Bill be referred to a Select Commit tee and subjected to public consultation, questioning the basis for imposing such sweeping restrictions. “Where is the data show ing that Goa requires such an extraordinary law? Be fore imposing severe pen alties, including life impris onment in certain cases, the government must place the facts and documented cases before the people,” he said. Sardesai also objected to provisions concerning “un due influence”, “allurement” and conversion through marriage, arguing that they could be open to misuse. “Such provisions can be misused to harass individ uals and interfere in legiti mate inter-faith marriages,” he said. Velim AAP MLA Cruz Silva similarly said the govern ment must first establish the scale and nature of the problem before introducing stringent legislation. “Before bringing such stringent legislation, the government must answer a simple question: what is the actual problem we are try ing to solve in Goa? We can not allow national political narratives to disturb the social fabric of our State. Goa has its own character, its own history and its own tradition of communal har mony,” he said.
The objections have also spread beyond party poli tics. Citizens for Democracy Goa convenor Elvis Gomes argued that the proposed legislation would make an individual’s private deci sion on faith an object of governmental scrutiny. “The State must not cre ate a system in which an individual’s deeply per sonal decision about faith becomes an object of rou tine governmental scrutiny. Goa’s long history of com munal unity, exemplified by towns like Cuncolim, has thrived without State policing over private con science,” Gomes said. Citizens’ Initiatives for Communal Harmony advo cate Albertina Almeida also questioned the evidentiary basis for the legislation. “There is no data to sup port legislation against forced conversion. Freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion are constitutionally guaranteed rights. This is nothing but a pre-election gimmick to tar get minorities and polarise communities. But the peo ple of Goa, of all communi ties, are wise enough not to fall prey to such gimmicks,” she said. Activist Iftiyaz Sayed de scribed the proposed leg islation as an attempt to deepen religious divisions. “These are tactics used by fascist forces to divide and polarise people along religious lines. We, the peo ple of Goa and law-abiding citizens of the State, do not need such a Bill, as we fol low the Constitution in its true spirit,” he said. Activist Anthony Da Silva urged Goans across com munities to oppose the measure. “All like-minded Goans must oppose this Bill in the larger interest of Goemkar ponn. It will definitely sow the seeds of hatred among Goan Hindus, Christians and Muslims, as the sense of oneness with which we, as Goans, enter each oth er’s religious places will be jeopardised,” he said. Former Goa Pradesh Con gress Committee president Amit Patkar questioned why the government was choosing to bring an an ti-conversion law instead of addressing what he de scribed as the actual threats to Goan identity. “If forced, fraudulent or coercive conversion is the concern, existing criminal laws already provide mech anisms to act against such offences. The BJP must ex plain what specific problem this new legislation is seek ing to address,” Patkar said. “Goa does not need laws that divide its people. Goa needs a government that protects every Goan, irre spective of religion, and safeguards the Constitu tion, our identity and our communal harmony,” he added. Cortalim MLA Antonio Vas has written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant registering his “strongest possible objection” to the Bill and warning that he would oppose it on the floor of the House if the govern ment proceeds with it. “The existing criminal laws already have provi sions against anybody in volved in forced conversion, and there is no need for any further Bill,” Vas said. He warned that the leg islation could disturb Goa’s social equilibrium by creat ing suspicion and hostility between communities. “I, therefore, register my strongest possible objec tion to this Bill. I categori cally condemn the Cabinet’s decision and demand its immediate withdrawal,” Vas said. “Should the government choose to proceed with placing this Bill before the Assembly, I will be com pelled to openly oppose it on the floor of the House to protect the democratic and secular ethos of Goa,” he added. The criticism has also ac quired a distinct electoral edge. AITC national spokes person Trajano D’Mello accused the government of creating a climate in which vigilante groups could in terfere in legitimate reli gious activity. “The attempt of the gov ernment to bring an An ti-Conversion Bill is nothing short of instigating unem ployed fanatics and vigi lante groups to interfere in legitimate religious activity of minorities. Such a Bill at this stage is unwarranted, as our State is renowned for its exceptional communal harmony, for which people scramble to buy holiday and retirement homes,” D’Mello said. He predicted that the Bill would face scrutiny in the Assembly. “I believe the Bill will face serious scrutiny in the forthcoming Assembly session and will not pass the test on the floor of the House. It will be referred to a Select Committee for thorough examination of its constitutional and social implications,” he said. GPCC spokesperson Adv Amit Palekar also alleged that the legislation was aimed at polarising voters ahead of the Assembly elec tions. “This appears to be the last session of the current Legislative Assembly, and the BJP government is try ing to build a narrative and polarise voters. It is trying to brand the Opposition Congress as anti-Hindu. The draft of the Anti-Con version Bill is also not in the public domain.
There are no incidents of forced conversion in the State, and we fear that this law can be misused to target minority communities,” Palekar said. Former Minister and Goa Vikas Party leader Francis co Xavier ‘Mickky’ Pacheco described the Bill as a “dan gerous piece of legislation”. “The proposed Anti-Con version Bill is a dangerous piece of legislation and a calculated attempt to in flict harassment and com mit atrocities against mi nority communities. The Bill opens the floodgates to mob rule and baseless intimidation across our State,” he said. Pacheco illustrated what he saw as the potential for misuse by fringe groups. “Tomorrow, assume some fringe elements af filiated with radical right wing groups like the RSS could forcibly barge into a church and target innocent clergy by falsely claiming that a priest invited them inside to convert them,” he said. The anger has also found expression among Church clergy. Saligao Seminary professor Fr Mousinho Ataide questioned both the factual basis and severity of the proposed law. “It is a blind Bill imposed by the government, inspired by Delhi. The proposed Bill is not based on any facts in Goa. Are there any cases of conversions under duress in Goa? There is not even one such case. Then why this Bill? The punishment is also severe,” he said. “I feel that this govern ment does not have heart and mind. It only wants to remain in power with the good grace of those in Del hi. The best is to shelve this Bill, lock, stock and barrel,” Ataide added. Legal concerns have add ed another dimension to the opposition. All India Catholic Union president A Chinnappan questioned the constitutional validity of such legislation. “The current proposed statutes are vague, over board and arbitrary in their operation, in violation of Articles 14, 21 and 25, and this is precisely what re mains to be decided in our petition in the Supreme Court. We will continue to challenge all laws that viti ate the letter and spirit of the freedom of religion en shrined in the Constitution of India,” he said. The government, mean while, has offered little detailed defence of the leg islation while the full Bill remains unavailable pub licly. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has maintained that the Assembly is the appro priate forum for discussion. “The Anti-Conversion Bill is yet to be introduced in the Legislative Assembly.
The Bill has only been ap proved by the Cabinet. Let us discuss and debate it in the Assembly,” Sawant said. PWD Minister Digambar Kamat has sought to reas sure those opposing the measure. “There is no need to fear this Bill. Those who do not indulge in conversion need not worry. Once the Bill is introduced in the Goa As sembly, it will be in the pub lic domain,” he said. The assurances, however, have done little to quell the controversy. The proposed law pro vides for punishments ranging from imprison ment and hefty fines to life imprisonment in certain circumstances, putting the stakes considerably high er than those involved in an ordinary regulatory stat ute. As the Bill heads towards the Assembly, the opposi tion to it has acquired an unusually broad base, cut ting across political affilia tions, religious communi ties and civil society.
