TN government says that “every citizen has the opportunity to practice and spread his religion peacefully”.
There is nothing illegal about missionaries spreading Christianity unless they employ unlawful means to do so, the Tamil Nadu government has told the Supreme Court, stressing that the Constitution of India gives people a right to “spread their religion peacefully” and “change their beliefs”.
Arguing that “anti-conversion laws are prone to misuse against minorities”, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led government raised the issue to the top court that citizens of the country should be allowed freely to choose their religion and it would not be appropriate for the government to put spokes to their personal belief and privacy.
The Tamil Nadu government, in an affidavit filed recently, emphasized that no incident of forceful conversion has been reported in the southern state in the last many years, as it opposed the prayers made by PIL petitioner-advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to order a CBI probe into the alleged cases of forcible conversions and direct the law commission of India to prepare a draft on anti-conversion law.