Violation of section 3 can result in punishment upto three years of prison or Rs 50,000 as fine or both

The new Hemant Soren government may face stiff resistance from a section of Sarna tribals if it tries to tweak the anti-conversion law brought in by the previous Raghubar Das government.

The Religious Freedom Act 2017, widely seen as an anti-conversion law, is on the radar of Adivasi Bhumij Samaj, a tribal outfit with 12,000 members across Kolhan.

Rabindranath Singh Bhumij, a key functionary of the outfit, said they would go all out to protect the anti-conversion law that is a deterrent to conversion with hefty fines and prison terms. “If there’s any bid to dilute this law, we will hit the streets,” he said.

Critics of the anti-conversion law had said that it would only serve to widen fissures in society. Going by Bhumij, who is also a Karandih panchayat samiti member, the fears of critics are coming true. Bhumij said the Hemant Soren government could do what it liked to alter rules related to Adivasi land or the domicile policy introduced by the BJP regime, but not touch the anti-conversion law.

“A large number of tribals have converted to Christianity. Our religion, Sarna, is at stake, as Christian missionaries actively lure innocent tribals with food and other amenities,” Bhumij said. He claimed their children got less benefits than those of tribal Christians.

He said very soon they would host meetings of tribals at districts, blocks and panchayats on this law.

Jharkhand is the seventh state to have an anti-conversion law, the other states being Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Maharastra and Himachal Pradesh.

Under the law, forced or allurement-induced religious conversion is a non-bailable criminal offence.

Section 3 of the Act bans forceful conversion. Violation of this section can result in punishment upto three years of prison or Rs 50,000 as fine or both.

If religious conversion involves a minor, woman or person from SC/ST community, prison term is up to 4 years and fine Rs 1 lakh.