Supreme Court Plea Seeks to Classify Forced Religious Conversion as Terrorist Act

A petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in the Supreme Court of India seeks directives to declare deceitful religious conversion a 'terrorist act.' The plea was submitted following allegations of forced conversion and sexual harassment involving eight female employees at Tata Consultancy Services' Nashik office. The petitioner argues that organized, coercive conversion campaigns, often allegedly funded by foreign entities, threaten India's sovereignty, secularism, and national integration. The petition contends that such acts fall under the definition of terrorism in Section 113 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It requests the Central and State governments to implement stringent measures, including establishing special courts for conversion cases and ensuring consecutive sentencing for offenders. The plea emphasizes that while Article 25 guarantees freedom of religion, it does not permit conversion through fraud, force, or coercion, as these actions violate public order and morality. This legal move aims to address what the petitioner describes as a systematic conspiracy altering demographic balances, thereby posing a significant security risk to the nation.