Rajasthan Government has announced that it would bring a bill to contain "forceful religious conversion" by any organisation in the state. The announcement was made in the assembly recently amidst pandemonium over the issue of the saffron outfits' protests against a Christian mission at Kota.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said if possible such a bill would be passed during the current budget session of the assembly itself. She had already directed the officials concerned to study similar laws, particularly in Gujarat and Orissa, among other states, before preparing the draft of the proposed bill.

The issue of alleged conversion attempts by the Emmanuel Mission International (EMI) was debated in the assembly.  Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria said no one in the state would be allowed to indulge in conversions by force or bribe. He gave details of the recent incident in Kota in which activists of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad forced the authorities to send back about 300 youth.

The activists alleged that these Hindu children had been brought from Andhra Pradesh with the intention to baptise them into Christianity. Each youngster was offered a bicycle and some cash for becoming a Christian, they alleged.

When contacted, Emmanuel Mission International Chairman Dr MN Thomas, a Padmashri awardee, said none of the youth was a Hindu. “They are all Christians and have come here to attend the Bible Graduation Week, an annual training camp, organised by the centre for several years. About 8,000 to 10,000 Christians from various parts of the country attend these training camps where after completion of the course they are given certificates,” he said. EMI, a 40-year-old organisation with 100 branches across the country, had never been charged with any indulgence in religious conversion activities, he added.

The authorities had made security arrangement around the venue of camp. After consultations with Dr Thomas, they had also invited leaders of Hindu organisations protesting against the camp as observers to personally watch the proceedings. Barring a few, most of these leaders, expressed satisfaction that EMI had no plans for conversion.