Chhattisgarh to bring new anti-conversion Bill with provisions to curb ‘Changai Sabha’

Chhattisgarh CM Vijay Sharma

Chhattisgarh Home Minister Vijay Sharma on Tuesday said the state government will introduce a new Bill against “illegal conversions” in the next Assembly session. The proposed law, he added, will also include provisions to regulate “Changai Sabha” or healing congregations.

Speaking to reporters, Sharma said, “In the next session of the Vidhan Sabha, we will bring an Act that I believe will be a step ahead of all the state-level anti-conversion laws, as we have made the draft after studying all these laws. Also, events like Changai Sabha, which we all know are done to confuse people, must be stopped. There is a need for a provision in the law to deal with it, which will be done in this Act.”

Currently, such matters are governed by the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968.

Allegations of religious conversions have often sparked tensions in the state. In July this year, two nuns from Kerala were arrested by the Durg Government Railway Police for allegedly trafficking three women from Narayanpur district, leading to a political controversy.

In January 2023, a mob vandalised a church in Narayanpur district and attacked police officials, including the Superintendent of Police. Following the incident, over 100 Christian converts were reportedly socially boycotted in parts of Bastar and had to take refuge in a local stadium.

There have also been multiple clashes between right-wing groups and Christian communities in districts like Raipur and Bastar over alleged conversions. Tribals and Dalits who converted to Christianity have faced challenges, including restrictions on burying their dead in village graveyards.

Earlier this year, a Bastar resident approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to bury his father, a pastor, in his village. The court denied the plea but directed the Chhattisgarh government to allocate exclusive burial grounds for Christians across the state within two months.