200,000 Christians Rally in Arunachal Pradesh Over Anti-Conversion Law
Anto Akkara - March 2025
Studies say Christians are the largest religious group in the mountainous and sparsely populated Arunachal Pradesh situated on the far east of India in the foothills of snow-capped Himalayas.
Amid hundreds of Christians being harassed and arrested, often on fraudulent charges, under the anti-conversion laws enacted in a dozen Indian states, Christians in Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India held a massive protest on March 6 demanding repeal of the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (APFRA) .
“Unless this law is repealed by the end of March, we will be forced to organize a referendum rally for it,” Mir Stephen Tarh, Catholic president of the ecumenical Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF), told to the Register on March 10 what he told local media during the protests, which were organized by ACF.
Tarh said that more than 200,000 Christians converged at Borum, near the state capital of Itanagar, and other distant district headquarters on the day, for peaceful protests, despite the government refusing permission for the ACF to hold the protest outside the State Assembly.
Thousands of tribal Christians of different denominations gathered, wearing colorful traditional attire and holding placards that read “Protect Our Right to Freedom of Religion,” “Respect Our Faith” and “United We Stand for Religious Harmony” to march through Itanagar to Borum.
“This protest march was a demonstration of unity and solidarity against the perceived threat to religious freedom and harmony in the state,” Bishop Benny Varghese of Itanagar told the Register.
Ahead of the protest, unprecedented in the state, the Hindu nationalist lobby, under the banner of Indigenous People’s Network of Arunachal Pradesh, held a rally March 1, demanding stringent rules for enforcement of the Anti-Conversion Law, euphemistically titled the “Freedom of Religion Act” of 1978.
However, despite the presence at the rally of Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - National Volunteer Corps), Tahr said, “only a few hundred people attended the politically motivated protest.”
The revival of the Anti-Conversion Law, passed by the state Legislature, was necessitated by the Guwahati High Court, ordering the state government in September to “frame rules” within six months to implement the law enacted in 1978, on a petition moved by an Indigenous-rights activist.
In India, a law can be implemented only after rules to enforce it are framed and notified. But since this process had not been followed in Arunachal Pradesh, the Anti-Conversion Law was never enforced for 46 years.
The development drew media attention at the end of last year, when state Chief Minister Pema Khandu, heading the Hindu nationalist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government, declared that his government will do what is necessary to fulfill the high court’s order.
Dismayed by this announcement by the chief minister, who had earlier promised Christians it would be repealed, the ACF convened in mid-January for a meeting and its delegates decided to both politically lobby and protest the move, first with district-level protests, followed by the state protest on March 6.
“The Arunachal Christian Forum, in collaboration with all the sister churches in Arunachal, joined in thousands the protest sparked by concerns that the Freedom of Religion Act, which aims to regulate conversions, could be misused to target minority communities and restrict their right to freedom of religion,” said Bishop Varghese.
“Leaders from various faith communities who addressed the gathering emphasized the importance of religious freedom and harmony in Arunachal Pradesh. They have called upon the government to respect the rights of all citizens and to promote mutual understanding and respect among people of different faiths,” the bishop reiterated.
Christianity Finds a Way
Though Christian missionaries were banned in Arunachal till the 1970s, more than 40% of the state’s 1.7 million population are Christians, accounting for more than 30% in the 2011 census.
Studies say Christians are the largest religious group in the mountainous and sparsely populated Arunachal Pradesh (meaning “Land of Rising Sun”), situated on the far east of India in the foothills of snow-capped Himalayas, bordering Bhutan, China and Myanmar. Ethnic Indigenous people come second, followed by Buddhists and others.
“The aim of revival of the anti-conversion [law] is only to harass Christians,” Likh Tabb, a Catholic and ACF president of Kei Panyo district, told the Register.
“It is not to preserve Indigenous cultures but to promote Hindu religion in Arunachal Pradesh in name of dony polo (‘Indigenous faith’),” Tabb said.
“We totally reject this draconian law, as it will be misused against us. In the 11 states where this law is implemented, has there been any arrest other than of Christians or Muslims under this law? So, even in Arunachal Pradesh, their intention is very clear,” asserted Tabb.
Thousands, including government employees, attended the rally; some traveled more than three hours, Tabb said.
Nathom Lowang, a Catholic woman who works as a schoolteacher at historic Borduria parish in the eastern Diocese of Miao, also rejected the claim of “reviving the anti-conversion law.”
“We are convinced that our culture or our Indigenous density cannot be destroyed with the acceptance of any religion. Faith is personal, and both culture and faith can go hand in hand,” asserted Lowang.
“To preserve Indigenous culture there is no need to revive the anti-conversion law. We are not foolish people. We know that Jesus Christ is a living God. We can pray and worship him without losing our culture.”
(Courtsey: ncregister.com)
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