Indian laws put Christian missionaries on defensive

Proponents of religious freedom are criticizing Indian laws against forced conversion.

By Mian Ridge | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Voluntary: A woman converted to Buddhism from Hinduism in Nagpur in 2006 as part of a mass ceremony to protest laws intended to deter conversions.

Prashanth Vishwanathan/Reuters/Newscom

Shimla, India - The walls of Lajja Devi's spartan house are plastered with Hindu images: blue-skinned Lord Krishna playing the flute; the warrior goddess Durga, brandishing a knife in each of her eight hands; barefoot, saffron-robed priests.

But only weeks before, every picture in the house was Christian. Ms. Devi, who lives in Shimla, the capital of the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, was born a Hindu but willingly converted to Christianity five years ago. She returned to Hinduism in a "ghar vapasi" – literally, homecoming – ritual with more than 100 others in February.

"I am back home now; I am much happier," says Devi, beaming.

Her especially noisy, colorful ceremony was held to generate publicity for a new law passed in Himachal Pradesh earlier in February, banning forced religious conversions. continue...