BJP plans to repeal anti-conversion law in Arunachal, tribal leaders oppose

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reportedly planning to repeal Arunachal Pradesh's anti-conversion law which was passed in 1978.

As per media reports, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said that the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act "undermines secularism and is targeted towards the Christians."

Khandu further opined overturning the law at Arunachal Pradesh Catholic Association's function organized in the memory of reverend brother Prem Bhai, a Benedictine missionary who spent 25 years proselytizing in the state despite multiple arrests and imprisonments.

This did not sit well with the local indigenous groups who are apprehensive of Khandu's actions. Bai Taba, the general secretary of Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh said that if the law was repealed, it would lead to the degradation of the indigenous cultures.

The leader of Arunachal Christian Forum, Toko Teki has stated that this move is not a politically motivated one. "The chief minister is educated and wise. He must have realised the futility of the dark and black law. Those days, most locals in the state were uneducated and the law was passed by uneducated legislators after being guided by outsiders," he said.

(With inputs from HT)