Dear Shri Devendra Fadnavis Ji,

You may be happy that the Freedom of Religion Bill has come into force in Maharashtra. But there is an irony you may have missed.

In Pune, your police were so eager to implement the law that they did not even wait for President Droupadi Murmu’s assent before invoking it in two cases. They withdrew the provisions after the home department made it clear that the law would come into force only on 28 August.

Everyone knows who the principal target of your legislation is even though the law does not name any religion. Christians constitute a tiny fraction of the population of Maharashtra. The community that apparently frightens your government so much is hardly a threat to public order. Why this anxiety about a tiny, largely law-abiding, highly literate community?

The way these laws are being applied across the country should concern every citizen, not just Christians. In Madhya Pradesh, seven Christians — six of them pastors — were sentenced in June this year to five years’ imprisonment under the state’s anti-conversion law and related provisions. They were accused of attempting to induce conversion while attending a child’s birthday party. The Jabalpur High Court has since granted bail to all seven, pending appeal.

You may say the courts will separate truth from falsehood. But why should an innocent citizen first have to spend time in prison, arrange money for bail and endure the stigma of being branded a conversion offender?

The law creates a structure in which the private spiritual decision of an adult becomes an object of government scrutiny. Imagine that tomorrow you wish to become a Christian. I know it’s unlikely but suppose you did. Under this law, requiring prior notification to the authorities, you’d have to disclose this deeply personal decision to the state before acting upon it.

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