TOPIC 31

RELIGIOUS RECONVERSION CAMPAIGNS AND STATE POLICY

Legal and Political Debates Surrounding “Ghar Wapsi” Initiatives

In April 2026, tribal Christians in Chhattisgarh received an ultimatum: attend a “Ghar Wapsi” (homecoming) ceremony to return to their ancestral faith, or face mass protests and legal consequences under the state’s proposed anti-conversion law . The Sarva Adivasi Samaj, a prominent tribal organization, assembled 800 people demanding the reconversion of Christian converts, viewing conversion to Christianity as a threat to cultural and ethnic identity rather than merely a religious issue . Meanwhile, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale defended such campaigns as “an act of correction rather than conversion,” while simultaneously acknowledging that reconverts face social rejection—temples refusing entry, communities refusing acceptance . The Rajasthan government passed an anti-conversion Bill in September 2025 that explicitly exempts “ghar wapsi” from its provisions, defining it as merely “returning to one’s original religion” rather than conversion . Uttarakhand amended its anti-conversion law to impose life imprisonment for forced conversions, while launching “Operation Kaalnemi” to verify suspicious persons and demolish “illegal” madrasas and mazaars . The Supreme Court, hearing challenges to these laws across ten states, posed a fundamental question: “Who will decide that a religious conversion is deceitful or not?” . This article examines the legal and political landscape surrounding religious reconversion campaigns, the constitutional tensions they raise, and the deepening debate over the meaning of religious freedom in contemporary India.

WHAT – “Ghar Wapsi” (literally “homecoming”) refers to campaigns and ceremonies aimed at reconverting individuals—particularly Christians and Muslims—back to Hinduism, which proponents describe as “returning to one’s ancestral religion” rather than conversion. Critics characterize these as forced or coerced reconversion drives, often accompanied by threats, social boycotts, or inducements.

WHO – RSS-affiliated organizations (Vishva Hindu Parishad, Dharam Jagran Manch) conduct reconversion campaigns. State governments led by BJP have passed anti-conversion laws that explicitly exempt ghar wapsi from restrictions. Tribal organizations like Sarva Adivasi Samaj pressure converts to return to ancestral faiths. The Supreme Court adjudicates constitutional challenges. Christian and Muslim communities face pressure as targets of these campaigns.

WHEN – Reconversion campaigns intensified after 2014, with a significant escalation between 2022-2026. Major legislative developments occurred in 2025-2026, including Rajasthan’s new Bill (September 2025), Uttarakhand’s amendments (August 2025), and Chhattisgarh’s proposed law (October 2025).

WHERE – Across India, with particular intensity in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand—all states that have enacted anti-conversion laws. Punjab has emerged as a new frontline, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah promising an anti-conversion law ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections .

WHY – Proponents argue reconversion campaigns “correct” past forced or deceitful conversions, protect Hindu culture and demographic balance, and prevent “love jihad” and missionary inducements. Critics argue these campaigns violate constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, target religious minorities for political mobilization, and use state machinery to enforce majoritarian religious norms.

HOW – Through mass reconversion ceremonies, social pressure from community organizations, legal provisions exempting ghar wapsi from anti-conversion restrictions, police actions under “Operation Kaalnemi” style initiatives, demolition of religious structures, and legislative amendments increasing penalties for conversion while legitimizing reconversion.

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SECTION 1: DEFINING GHAR WAPSI – CORRECTION OR CONVERSION?

The central semantic and legal debate surrounding reconversion campaigns hinges on whether ghar wapsi constitutes “conversion” at all.

1.1 The RSS Position: “Act of Correction”

In November 2025, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale articulated the organized Hindutva position on ghar wapsi during a visit to Odisha :

However, Hosabale also acknowledged critical social barriers faced by reconverts: “They are not readily accepted by their communities. It is often seen that many Hindu communities show reservation to accept them (after their reconversion) and temples do not allow them to enter” .

1.2 The Legal Definition: Exempting Ghar Wapsi from Anti-Conversion Laws

Multiple state anti-conversion laws explicitly exempt reconversion from their purview. The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025 (tabled September 2025) states: “The return of any person already converted to his original religion i.e. ancestral religion shall not be deemed conversion” .

Rajasthan Law Minister Jogaram Patel confirmed this interpretation: “If someone returns to their mool (original) religion, which we call ghar wapsi, then these provisions will not be applicable to them” .

1.3 The Critique: Redefining Conversion for Majoritarian Convenience

Critics argue that exempting ghar wapsi while criminalizing other conversions represents constitutional hypocrisy. An editorial in Nagaland Post noted: “The same politicians who rail against conversion celebrate ‘reconversion’ or Ghar Wapsi campaigns that are drenched in threats, inducements, and outright coercion. The hypocrisy could not be starker” .

The constitutional contradiction is evident:

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SECTION 2: STATE ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS – THE LEGAL ARCHITECTURE

As of 2026, ten states have enacted “Freedom of Religion” Acts that regulate religious conversion. The Supreme Court has described these laws as growing “more and more strident” .

2.1 Comparative Analysis of State Laws

Sources: The Hindu, Indian Express, Frontline 

2.2 Uttarakhand: The Most Aggressive Model

The Pushkar Singh Dhami government in Uttarakhand has emerged as the most aggressive exponent of Hindutva legal architecture. In August 2025, the Assembly passed three contentious Bills in a chaotic session lasting mere minutes :

Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2025:

Operation Kaalnemi: Alongside legislative changes, Uttarakhand Police launched this operation targeting “suspicious persons.” Over 4,000 persons were verified, with more than 300 arrested, including one Bangladeshi national caught “disguising himself in religious attire” in Dehradun .

Madrasa Regulation: The government abolished the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, effective July 1, 2026, replacing it with a State Minority Education Authority that will grant recognition to minority institutions across all communities—effectively ending Muslim monopoly over madrasa recognition .

Mazaar Demolitions: Over 500 “illegal” mazaars (mausoleums) have been demolished, with the government claiming 9,000 acres of government land was “freed from encroachment” .

2.3 Rajasthan: The Template Law

The Rajasthan Bill, tabled in September 2025, represents the most detailed and stringent anti-conversion legislation to date, serving as a template for other states .

Evolution from February to September 2025:

Expanded Definitions: The September Bill significantly broadened the scope of prohibited activities:

• “Allurement” now includes “portraying practice, rituals and ceremonies or any integral part of a religion in a detrimental way vis-à-vis another religion; or glorifying one religion against another religion”

• “Propaganda” defined as “systematic dissemination of information, ideas, or beliefs, including misinformation, through any medium (printed material, print media, social media, messaging applications, or any other digital mode), with the intent to cause or facilitate unlawful conversion”

• Third-party complaints: Previously only aggrieved persons or relatives could file complaints; now “any person” can 

2.4 Chhattisgarh: Targeting “Changai Sabhas”

In October 2025, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma announced a proposed anti-conversion law that would be “one step ahead” of existing state laws, specifically targeting “changai sabhas” (faith healing meetings) .

CM Vishnu Deo Sai confirmed the new law would be tabled in the next Assembly session. Sharma elaborated: “An Act will be introduced… which I believe will be a step ahead of the existing Acts in other states, as it incorporates everyone’s experiences. Additionally, there are things like ‘changai sabha’, which everybody understands are misleading. Therefore, these things must be stopped. This requires legal provisions” .

This provision directly responds to evangelical Christian practices in tribal areas, where faith healing gatherings have been sites of conversion.

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SECTION 3: THE SUPREME COURT DILEMMA – CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES

The Supreme Court is currently seized of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of anti-conversion laws across ten states. The lead petition was filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) in 2020 .

3.1 The Core Question: “Who Decides?”

In September 2025, a bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran posed a fundamental question to petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay (who sought a ban on “deceitful” conversion): “Who will find out as to whether it is deceitful or not?” 

This question exposes the practical impossibility of administering subjective religious classifications. Senior advocate P. Wilson added that what Upadhyay sought was “in the legislative domain and out of the scope of the court’s powers.” The bench subsequently detagged Upadhyay’s petition .

3.2 Petitioners’ Arguments

Senior advocate C.U. Singh, appearing for CJP, presented the case against the laws :

Singh noted that recent amendments empower third parties to file criminal complaints against couples in inter-faith marriages, making “bail impossible” .

3.3 States’ Response and Current Status

Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj questioned the timing of the stay request, noting the case had been pending for three years before petitioners sought a stay. The Court directed states to file replies within four weeks and scheduled the case for further hearing .

The Court has not yet issued a stay on the implementation of these Acts, allowing them to remain in force during the pendency of the litigation.

3.4 The 2023 Precedent

In 2023, while hearing the same case, the Supreme Court had refused to refer to the Law Commission the question of whether “forcible conversion” should be made a separate offence under the Indian Penal Code. The government had also opposed the locus standi of CJP to move the court .

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SECTION 4: PUNJAB – THE NEW FRONTIER

While anti-conversion laws have been concentrated in BJP-ruled states, Punjab has emerged as a new battleground ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

4.1 Amit Shah’s Promise

On March 14, 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a “Badlav Rally” in Moga, Punjab, wearing a saffron turban. His key announcement: if the BJP forms the next government in Punjab, its “first legislative move would be a law to ban religious conversions” .

Shah framed conversion alongside drugs, debt, corruption, and gangster violence as markers of Punjab’s decline: “Punjab was ‘shrouded with loans, drugs, conversion, corruption, and the terror of gangsters'” .

4.2 The Sikh Dimension

Punjab’s case is distinct because it is India’s only Sikh-majority state. The conversion debate carries specific historical and social weight:

Political scientist Ashutosh Kumar observed: “Conversions have emerged as a big issue in the State and have been a source of constant social anxiety over fears of demographic change, especially among the Sikhs. From the point of view of electoral politics, it is a smart move by the BJP” .

4.3 The Caste Question Underlying Conversion

Sociologists and historians argue that the conversion debate in Punjab obscures deeper structural issues. Political commentator Jagtar Singh noted: “There are no large-scale forcible conversions in Punjab; the more relevant question is why people are leaving their existing faiths. Sikh society is caste-based, just like Hindu society—casteless in philosophy, but not always in reality” .

The 1950 Presidential Order restricts Scheduled Caste status—and associated reservation benefits—to those professing Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism. Dalit Christians and Muslims are excluded from SC reservations even though caste discrimination persists within their communities .

This creates the “crypto-Christian” phenomenon documented by researcher Niyati Sharma: “Scheduled Caste families who convert often conceal it to avoid losing constitutional protections. Many converts thus continue to have two identities: on official documents, they identify as Sikhs or Hindus; in private, they live as Christians” .

4.4 Historical Precedent: Bhagat Singh on Conversion

In a remarkable historical irony, the conversion debate echoes arguments made nearly a century ago. In a June 1928 article titled “The Question of the Untouchables” published under the pseudonym “Vidrohi” in Kirti magazine, Bhagat Singh argued that the real issue was not why people changed faiths but why they were denied dignity within them .

India’s religious communities, he wrote, were less concerned with ending caste oppression than with drawing the oppressed into their own folds—a critique that resonates with contemporary debates over both Christian conversion and Hindu reconversion.

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SECTION 5: GROUND REALITIES – PRESSURE AND RESISTANCE

5.1 Chhattisgarh: Ultimatum to Tribal Christians

In April 2026, Sarva Adivasi Samaj—an umbrella organization of tribal groups in Chhattisgarh—assembled 800 people demanding the reconversion of Christian converts. Village representatives alleged that “attempts to convert people away from traditional customs and faith in tribal deities are increasing in the area” and stated that “such conversions will not be tolerated within the community” .

The organization explicitly framed conversion as “a threat to cultural and ethnic identity, rather than ‘only’ religious conversion.” Representatives appealed to the administration “to intervene immediately to maintain peace and preserve traditions” .

The ultimatum: Converts must attend a Ghar Wapsi ceremony on April 30, 2026, threatening “mass protests and legal action against those who do not comply, citing the new Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Bill 2026” .

Response: Some families expressed willingness to undergo reconversion “due to increasing social pressure,” while several Christians “are reportedly living in fear of large-scale protests and forced reconversions.” None of the converted families attended the planning meetings .

5.2 Social Barriers to Reconversion

Even as state policies facilitate ghar wapsi, reconverts face social rejection. RSS leader Hosabale himself acknowledged: “It is often seen that many Hindu communities show reservation to accept them (after their reconversion) and temples do not allow them to enter” .

This reveals the gap between political Hindutva’s project of numerical consolidation and the persistence of caste-based exclusion within Hindu society. Hosabale conceded that “the RSS has no role to play here as this is a religious matter”—a striking admission of the limits of political intervention in social hierarchy .

5.3 The “Crypto-Christian” Phenomenon

Documented extensively in Punjab, this phenomenon extends to other states. Niyati Sharma’s research reveals that Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity—who lose SC status upon conversion—often “lead a life of deceit,” maintaining dual religious identities across official and private domains .

The Supreme Court reaffirmed this legal reality on March 24, 2026, in Chinthada Anand v. State of Andhra Pradesh, holding that SC status is restricted to adherents of Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism. This leaves Dalit Christians and Muslims outside reservation frameworks despite the persistence of caste-based disadvantage .

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SECTION 6: POLITICAL DISCOURSE – LOVE JIHAD, LAND JIHAD, THOOK JIHAD

The legislative architecture of anti-conversion laws is accompanied by a distinctive political vocabulary deployed by BJP leaders, particularly in Uttarakhand.

6.1 The Three “Jihads”

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has repeatedly invoked three terms :

Dhami has stated: “The original existence of Dev Bhoomi should be saved. This is my resolution, the resolution of Dev Bhoomi. I will not allow love jihad, land jihad, or thook jihad to alter the State’s original form” .

6.2 Communal Violence in Uttarakhand

This political discourse has accompanied multiple instances of communal violence :

Political analyst S.M.A. Kazmi observed: “Every two to three months, we see that the ruling dispensation comes up with an issue that has communal overtones. Sometimes, Dhami talks about love jihad, and on other occasions he rakes up the issue of land jihad or even thook jihad” .

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SECTION 7: THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS – FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS UNDER ASSAULT?

7.1 Rights at Stake

7.2 The Nagaland Post Editorial

An editorial in Nagaland Post (September 2025) captured the stakes for religious freedom :

“India’s Constitution promises every citizen the right to choose, profess, practice, and propagate faith. Yet that promise is being systematically dismantled by a patchwork of anti-conversion laws that have turned freedom of conscience into a crime scene… The danger begins with vague, elastic terms like ‘coercion’ and ‘allurement’ that are deliberately drafted to be abused… The result is that compassion is criminalized, kindness is suspect, and love itself becomes a punishable offence.”

The editorial called on northeastern states with Christian majorities—Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya—to “lead the fight, not whisper from the sidelines” and concluded: “This is a battle for India’s democratic soul” .

7.3 The International Dimension

Open Doors, a Christian persecution monitoring organization, issued an urgent prayer appeal in April 2026 for tribal Christians in Chhattisgarh facing reconversion pressure. The organization reports that India has “the most restrictive anti-conversion laws” that make “it very difficult to leave your previous faith if you follow Jesus” .

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SECTION 8: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

India’s approach is unique in explicitly exempting reconversion to Hinduism from legal restrictions while criminalizing conversion away from Hinduism—a legal architecture that critics argue effectively establishes Hinduism as a preferred religion, contradicting the constitutional commitment to secularism.

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SECTION 9: THE WAY FORWARD – LEGAL AND POLITICAL QUESTIONS

9.1 Pending Before Supreme Court

9.2 Reform Proposals from Civil Society

9.3 Political Trajectory

The pattern since 2020 suggests escalation rather than moderation:

1. More states are adopting anti-conversion laws (Chhattisgarh proposed)

2. Penalties are increasing (life imprisonment replacing 10-year caps)

3. Definitions are expanding (digital propaganda, faith healing, “glorifying” one religion over another)

4. Enforcement is intensifying (Operation Kaalnemi, mazaar demolitions, madrasa closures)

5. Ghar wapsi exemptions remain while other conversions face unprecedented restrictions

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SECTION 10: THE CENTRAL QUESTION – RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OR MAJORITARIANISM?

The politics of ghar wapsi and anti-conversion laws reflects a fundamental tension in India’s constitutional identity.

What Is Undeniable:

What Remains Disputed:

The Unanswered Question:

If the state prohibits conversion from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam while facilitating reconversion to Hinduism—and if the Supreme Court has asked “who decides” whether a conversion is deceitful—is India moving toward a legal framework that effectively establishes Hinduism as the state-preferred religion?

The Constitution declares India to be secular. The courts have affirmed that secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution. But the legislative architecture emerging across ten states—explicitly exempting reconversion to Hinduism while criminalizing conversion away from it—suggests a different constitutional vision.

The Supreme Court’s answer to its own question—”who decides”—will determine whether that vision prevails.

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SUMMARY TABLE: GHAR WAPSI AND ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS – STATE COMPARISON

Contiued….