Police in Mirzapur have arrested two more individuals, including a wanted suspect with a reward, in connection with an illegal religious conversion racket allegedly operating under the guise of gymnasiums. This brings the total number of arrests in the case to ten.
The Maharashtra government has introduced the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026, which aims to prohibit religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, or marriage, with stringent penalties for violations.
A chargesheet has been filed against a former King George's Medical University resident and three others for the alleged sexual exploitation and religious conversion of a female doctor in Lucknow.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has announced that his government will introduce a provision for the death penalty for religious conversion of girls, mirroring the punishment for rape of minors. This announcement was made at a Women's Day event in Bhopal, where the CM also digitally transferred financial assistance to beneficiaries of various schemes. Yadav stated that the government is committed to protecting and respecting women and will take strict action against those involved in illegal conversions.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) staged a protest in Lucknow alleging illegal religious conversion activities at King George's Medical University (KGMU), following the arrest of a KGMU intern in a rape and blackmail case. The VHP demanded swift action against those involved, claiming an organized attempt at religious conversion.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat addressed concerns about population imbalance, citing religious conversion, infiltration, and low birth rates as key factors. He advocated for 'ghar wapasi' and vigilance against infiltrators, while also emphasizing the importance of family and employment.
The alleged mastermind of an organized gang involved in sexual exploitation, religious conversion, and blackmailing in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district was arrested at Delhi's IGI airport while attempting to flee abroad.
The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and 12 states on a PIL challenging the validity of their anti-conversion laws. The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) filed the PIL, seeking a stay on the operation of these laws.
Forced religious conversion may pose a danger to national security and impinge on the religious freedom of citizens, the top court had said recently and asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to tackle the "very serious" issue.
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that religious conversions undertaken solely to avail reservation benefits without genuine belief in the adopted religion amount to "fraud on the Constitution". The court upheld a Madras High Court decision denying a scheduled caste certificate to a woman who converted to Christianity but later claimed to be a Hindu to secure employment benefits.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will hear on March 17 pleas dealing with two separate issues of alleged 'fraudulent conversions' and challenge to various state laws on religious conversions due to interfaith marriages respectively.
While there is no mention of how many people have been converted, local BJP leader Deepak Sharma claimed that more than 100 people living from Mangatapuram Colony had allegedly been converted to Christianity.
The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Saturday approved the Religious Freedom Bill 2020, which provides for prison term of up to 10 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh for conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said.
The Supreme Court has declined to urgently hear pleas seeking a stay on anti-conversion laws enacted by several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. The matter is now scheduled for hearing in December.
Terming forced religious conversion a "very serious" issue, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to check the practice.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear on February 3 a batch of pleas challenging controversial state laws regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriages.
The students were present for the examination in the school when the incident occurred.
The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre and others on a plea seeking direction to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion by "intimidation" and through "gifts and monetary benefits".
The trailer of The Kerala Story 2 has triggered widespread conversation with its intense and controversial messaging of religious conversion. Read reactions and key takeaways from the debate.
"There are people who get converted and do not disclose that they have converted. They take double benefits," RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said at a press conference."
Indulging in religious conversion with inducement or under pressure is an "unpardonable offence", the state home minister Araga Jnanendra said adding, it may also lead to disturbance of peace in the society.
A bench of Justices R F Nariman, B R Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy told senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayana, appearing for petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, "What kind of writ petition is this under Article 32. We will impose a heavy cost on you. You argue on your own risk."
The trailer of the film, produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Kamakhya Narain Singh, released on Tuesday and landed straight into controversy. It tracks the stories of three Hindu women from three different states going against their families to marry Muslim men and then being forced to convert.
The upcoming Hindi film 'The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond' is embroiled in controversy, similar to its predecessor, with accusations of hate propaganda and defenses of legitimate concern over religious conversion.
The Maharashtra government plans to introduce a stringent anti-conversion law in the winter session of the legislature, with provisions stricter than those in other states.
Uttar Pradesh Police has busted an inter-state religious conversion racket and arrested four individuals, including a madrasa cleric, officials said in Bareilly on Wednesday.
The state assembly had passed the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill in March this year.
Police in Maharashtra's Amravati district arrested a pastor from Kerala and seven others on charges of hurting religious sentiments after allegations of offering money for conversion to Christianity. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan criticized the arrests.
'The real #KeralaStory is how pork, beef and fish coexist with vegetarian sadya and all of them live in harmony.'
The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Bill, 2008, reintroduced by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje last week, prohibits conversion by use of force, allurement or fradulent means. It was passed by voice vote, even as Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist and Lok Janshakti Party Legislative Assembly members demanded that it be referred to a select committee.
The Uttar Pradesh government ordered a probe by a special investigation team after an IAS officer was seen in some video clips at a gathering at his home where religious conversion was being allegedly discussed.
The father of two sisters in Agra, whose missing persons complaint exposed an illegal religious conversion racket, claims his daughters were 'brainwashed' by some Kashmiri girls. Ten people have been arrested from six states in connection with the case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating the assets and finances of Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, the alleged mastermind of an illegal religious-conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh. The ED has written to various authorities and banks to gather information and is expected to seek custodial remand for questioning.
Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui was arrested by the ATS, which is probing the racket, at around 9 pm on Tuesday from Meerut, Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said.
The Supreme Court has voiced concern over a 'new type of fraud' involving individuals from dominant upper-caste backgrounds in Haryana converting to Buddhism solely to claim minority reservation benefits. The court has sought a report from the chief secretary of Haryana on the issuance of minority certificates.
A division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and S Ananthi made an oral observation to this effect when a PIL petition from city-based advocate B Jagannath came up for hearing, on Thursday.
The Supreme Court has sought the Uttar Pradesh government's response on a plea challenging certain provisions of the 2024 amended UP law on unlawful religious conversion, citing concerns about free speech and religious propagation.
A vacation bench of the Madras high court on Friday admitted a public interest litigation plea to stop forcible conversion of students in schools and ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu government, returnable in four weeks.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Wednesday accused the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Orissa of working under "pressure" from missionary elements and the Centre to protect real "killers" of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and demanded a central law to ban religious conversion.
Justice Vinod Diwaker made the observation while rejecting a plea to cancel an FIR against four people accused under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021.
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