Following in Uttar Pradesh"s footsteps, two more states in India are working on implementing variations on the anti-conversion law: Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
- Gujarat: With its Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) majority, the Gujarat Assembly has passed a Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2021. The law aims to prevent men spreading Islam by Hindu brides being made to convert through marriage (The Indian Express, 9 April 2021).
- Tamil Nadu: In its election manifesto for the 6 April 2021 Tamil Nadu elections, the BJP is promising to enact legislations against cow slaughter and religious conversions through force or allurement (Hindustan Times, 23 March 2021).
Rolf Zeegers, World Watch Research analyst, comments: "More and more states in India are either implementing new anti-conversion laws or are extending existing ones. The driving force behind this is the radical Hindu political party, BJP. In Tamil Nadu the BJP is promoting anti-conversion legislation to attract more votes in the April elections. In Gujarat, a
first version of the anti-conversion law was introduced in 2003 (International Christian Concern, 29 March 2021. This was the state where Prime Minister Modi ruled as Chief Minister before he switched to the federal government in March 2014. Under Modi"s leadership huge violence broke out in February 2002 between Hindus and Muslims in which more than a thousand people died (the majority of them Muslims). Gujarat passed. The main target of the new anti-conversion law is clearly the Muslim community. However, the passing of such laws also have serious consequences for the Christian minority. Radical Hindus are accusing and attacking Christians all over India for their activities involving alleged forced conversion. The increased implementation of anti-conversion legislation will almost certainly lead to an increase in violence against Christians."
