SOUTHERN INDIA ANNOUNCES REPEAL OF ANTI-CONVERSION LAWBarely a week after India’s Congress Party defeated the previous pro-Hindu government in national elections, Chief Minister Selvi J. Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, southern India, has announced the repeal of the state anti-conversion law. Ms. Jayalalithaa heads the local branch of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazakham party (AIADMK), which was soundly defeated in the general elections. On May 18, Jayalalithaa announced that she would drop the state’s anti-conversion law. “I have ordered that the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act 2002 be repealed at once,” she said. “An ordinance for this purpose will be brought immediately.”The Tamil Nadu anti-conversion law was enacted on October 5, 2002, despite large-scale protests by the Christian minority and opposition parties. It contained loose definitions and required all conversions to be registered with the state government. Without proper registration, both “converter” and “converted” could be jailed and fined as common criminals.From the news flow at Intercessors Network
