More than 2,000 people have protested against the recently passed Rajasthan Religious Conversion Bill, 2025. The protesters, who gathered at Shaheed Smarak (Martyr Memorial) Park in the state capital of Jaipur on October 5, urged the governor not to sign the bill the Rajasthan assembly passed on September 9.
They also asked the chief minister to stop criminalizing prayer meetings and to take action against hate campaigns targeting Christians, indiatomorrow.net reported October 6. The bill reportedly aims to prevent religious conversions using force, fraud, allurement or coercion, punishable with steep penalties, including life imprisonment. Those returning to their “ancestral religion” have been exempted from the law.
The protesters came together under the banner of the Coordination Against the Religious Conversion Bill, 2025. More than 20 organizations, including the Jaipur Christian Fellowship and Rajasthan Christian Alliance, participated. They resolved that minority communities would continue their state-wide protest until the bill is withdrawn. The central slogan of the gathering was: “Honourable Governor, please refuse to sign this unconstitutional bill and refer it to the President!”
Plans were announced for state-wide rallies, meetings, and signature campaigns in every district of the northwestern Indian state against the bill. Hundreds also signed a memorandum submitted to the governor. Another memorandum was presented to the chief minister. The memorandum documented 13 attacks in seven states in the past 20 days. Protesters demanded protection of fundamental religious rights for Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and others. Police were urged to stop declaring Christian Sunday prayer meetings as “crimes,” a move that has caused panic in the community. The protesters condemned repeated attacks on prayer meetings by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and Bajrang Dal members. They criticized the state police for registering cases against clergy and devotees instead of protecting them.
