EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/611

(2004/C 88 E/0631)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1342/03

by Benedetto Della Vedova (NI) to the Commission

(9 April 2003)

Subject: The right to religious freedom in India

On 26 March the Assembly of the north-western Indian State of Gujarat approved a government bill on forcible religious conversion, the ‘Freedom of Religion Bill’.

The missionary press agency MISNA announced some of the provisions of this law in advance:

(a) anyone considered responsible for forcible religious conversions risks up to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 50 thousand rupees (more than EUR 1 000);

(b) conversion is to be considered legitimate and not subject to prosecution only if recognised by the authorities and officially authorised by the district magistrate;

(c) conversion deemed to be genuine and voluntary, but lacking the necessary authorisation by the competent magistrate, can incur up to one year's imprisonment and a fine of 1 000 rupees (about EUR 20).

Furthermore, this law is being adopted at a time when an unusual form of census is being carried out by the police authorities, who are gathering information on the presence of Christians in the period between 1998 and 2003, including their numbers and their reasons for coming to the area, how many conversions there were, how many children were born in this period and marriages between Christians and people belonging to other religions.

Since this provision — following those already in force in other Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa — is being introduced in a climate of serious threats and tension vis-à-vis Christian and Muslim minorities, with which the decisions of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party currently governing India, are not totally unconnected, can the Commission say:

— what information it has regarding what is happening in India, in particular in the above-mentioned states;

— whether it intends to urge the Indian federal government to force the Gujarat authorities to suspend immediately activities which contravene Indian legislation, such as the registration of specific communities or religious groups;

— what kind of diplomatic pressure it intends to exert to ensure that Indian citizens may exercise fully the right to religious freedom recognised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which also presupposes the right to conversion?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(16 May 2003)

The Commission is aware of Gujarat Assembly's intention to pass a ‘Freedom of Religion Bill’, as raised by the Honourable Member and that this bill might adversely affect religious minorities. As the Honourable Member has pointed out, this is not an issue limited to Gujarat, with similar provisions existing in other states such as Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, creating the impression that such legislation on a state level might proliferate. At present, the precise text of the proposed bill is not yet fully available, but the Commission will of course keep itself closely informed of all developments.

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's concern that this type of state legislation could have the potential to restrict the Indian people from exercising their right to religious freedom.

The Commission shall deal with this matter in the same way that it deals with all other questions concerning democracy and human rights in India, namely through its agreed policy of regular, on-going constructive dialogue with the Indian Government.