Kolkata: The Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA) on Monday urged the Arunachal Pradesh government to immediately frame and notify the rules of the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978 after recent protests by church groups opposing the implementation of the long-dormant law.
In a statement issued by ABVKA National President Satendra Singh, the organisation said the law was enacted to prevent religious conversions through “inducement, coercion, or deceit” and to safeguard the cultural heritage of tribal communities. Though the Act received Presidential assent in 1978, its rules were never notified, rendering it ineffective for over four decades.
“This may be the only law in independent India that has remained dormant for so long,” Singh said, blaming successive state and central governments for “negligence and failure” in ensuring the law’s implementation.
Court-mandated implementation push
The call to notify the rules comes after the Itanagar Permanent Bench of the Guwahati High Court, in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), directed the state government on September 30, 2024, to frame and notify the rules within six months. The PIL was reportedly filed by a young tribal advocate from the state.
Singh criticised recent protests by church groups and Christian organisations against the impending implementation of the law. “As the deadline nears, we are seeing strong protests from church groups not just in Arunachal but also from neighbouring states,” Singh said. “It is highly condemnable that those who usually cite the Constitution are now opposing the High Court’s order.”
Claim of mass conversions
Singh also alleged that mass conversions over the past five decades have led to a steep rise in the Christian population in the state—from under 1 per cent in the 1970s to over 31 per cent in 2011. “Conversions have devoured nearly half of the indigenous tribal population and their cultural heritage,” he said.
ABVKA urged the Arunachal Pradesh government to fulfill its “constitutional obligation” and called on the Union Home Ministry to intervene to prevent a “constitutional failure”.
“The tribal communities have been demanding these rules for the last 20–25 years. This is not about politics—it’s about justice,” Singh said.
