Editorial Note, Jul-Aug, 2022

Besides being inherently controversial with implications for freedom of choice of religion, anti-conversion laws run into a long-standing practice among oppressed sections even within the majority community: that of opting for conversion as a form of protest. This issue has come to the fore in a context where, under pressure from majoritarian forces, state governments have begun enacting anti-conversion laws. Such laws are justified by referring to instances that have ostensibly brought practitioners of proselytising religions like Islam and Christianity into conflict with followers of the non-proselytising tradition of Hinduism.