7/14/2025 India (International Christian Concern) — Within six months, the government of Maharashtra in India is planning to investigate and demolish hundreds of churches that it claims are unauthorized structures, most of which are in tribal regions.

The state is also planning to enact a stringent anti-conversion law to curb religious conversions carried out through inducement or coercion.

Maharashtra’s Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced the plans on June 9, as he addressed concerns raised by several members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly about alleged forced conversions in the state.

Bawankule said that once the anti-conversion law is enacted, no one will dare to undertake religious conversions in the state. The minister, however, did not share details of the draft law.

The state of Maharashtra is ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also holds power at the federal level. If the anti-conversion law is passed, Maharashtra will become the 13th Indian state with such a law in place.

Stringent anti-conversion laws were promptly implemented in many Northern states after the BJP came to power. Uttar Pradesh has the most stringent law.

In Maharashtra, the issue of “coerced” conversions to Christianity was brought to the forefront by Anup Agrawal, a legislator who highlighted the proliferation of alleged unauthorized church constructions in the tribal dominated Dhule and Nandurbar districts, where conversions are reportedly being facilitated through allurements.

Joining Agrawal were other legislators who alleged that tribals were being converted to Christianity through illegal churches built using foreign funding for the promotion of the religion.

The legislators also demanded a mechanism to bar converted tribals from availing benefits under welfare schemes meant for Scheduled Castes. But the legislators did not specify how many “illegal” churches had been built or where exactly the funding came from.

“The state cabinet will discuss the issues of foreign funding, the sources of the funding, the quantum of funding, and existing acts by the state and the center to act in these cases,” Bawankule told the legislators. “We intend to bring a robust law to curb the cases of conversion, and it will be brought after due deliberation.”

Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike told the Assembly that the Tribal Development Department will collect data on conversion-related issues statewide and take appropriate action. He also announced that a comprehensive survey of conversions among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be conducted.

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