Some 'Side Effects' of Religious Diversity: Exploring Religious Conversion in the Indian Secular State

In the constitutions of many of today's democracies, the official character of the state is no longer defined in religious terms, and freedom of religion of the citizens of these states is thus ensured. In such states with religiously diverse societies, interreligious interactions and encounters are common practice in both the social and the political spheres. Nevertheless, in many of these states, including India, the issue of religious conversion presents a challenge to the secular nature of the state. Although the separation of church and state is not a prerequisite for democracy, in the early days of Indian independence, India's leaders chose to create a constitutional order based on secular and egalitarian values (Brass 2010; Harel-Shalev 2010; Shani 2017). Nonetheless, in India - a democracy that constitutionally declared its secular character and one that is committed to ensuring freedom of religion of its citizens - continuing discomfort with religious conversion is evident, particularly conversion to Islam or to Christianity.