More than 50,000 Christians in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state gathered to protest a government plan to revive a stringent 40-year-old anti-conversion law, fearing its misuse to target and victimize them. “We oppose the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978 because it curtails our religious rights,” said Tara Miri, the president of the Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF). Christians from all 29 districts and different church denominations turned up for the March 6 protest and “filled all our 50,000 chairs” in an open ground state capital, Itanagar, Miri told on March 7. “There are 46 Christian denominations in the state, and members of all of them joined the protest because we feel the state government should not implement the law,” Miri said. The anti-conversion law was first introduced in 1978 to protect the traditional religious practices of indigenous communities from external influence or coercion. But it remained dormant for over 45 years as successive governments failed to frame the rules. On Sept. 30 last year, the Gauhati High Court’s permanent bench in Itanagar directed the state government to finalize the rules within six months after a public interest litigation by a citizen against the government’s failure to enforce the law. The law prohibits religious conversion “by use of force or inducement or by fraudulent means” and has provision for a two-year jail term or a fine up to Rs 10,000 (US$115) if found guilty. The law also mandates that every conversion has to be reported to the deputy commissioner, a top officer in the state’s districts. A failure to report an intended conversion shall attract a penalty.