KOCHI: Legalising religious conversions will no longer be a tedious process in Kerala. The state government has decided to drop the requirement of a certificate issued by religious institutions from citizens applying for a change in name and religion.
A government order issued by Principal Secretary A Jayathilak on July 23 explained the change saying it was the fundamental right of a citizen to accept any religion. “Based on several government orders, some government-approved institutions were given special rights to give certificates for the persons who have changed their religious belief. The government examined the matter in detail and issued an order that no certificate is required for changing the name and religion of the person who has changed his religious belief. If there is lack of clarity in the applications, the tahsildar concerned can investigate it,” reads the order.
The government’s decision to bring an order came in the wake of the Kerala High Court directive to make rules for the same. The HC issued the directive in 2018 while hearing a petition of 50-year-old Thadevoos, alias Abu Thalib, of Ilahia Colony in Muvattupuzha, who had converted to Islam from Christianity.
The petitioner had produced before the court a copy of a report about the dispute over the last rites of a man from Thrissur who allegedly converted to Islam from Christianity in 2000. Despite having converted to Islam, there were no legal records to prove his conversion.
Under the new rule, if a person declares that he or she has changed their religion from one to another, the person does not have to produce a certificate from the latter religious organisation while applying or publishing a gazetted notification for changing the name and religion from official records.
P K A Kareem, general secretary, Mahallu Jama-ath Council, welcomed the new rule. “It is a good move. Religion is a belief of a person and anyone can accept the religion they want. Religious organisations are teaching the ideologies they believe in,” he said.
Interpreting the new government order, RTI activist and lawyer D B Binu said the government had accepted the fundamental right of the individual. “Religion is the consciousness of the citizen. It is their fundamental right to believe or not to believe in any religion. Religious organisations do not have any right to intrude into the fundamental rights of a citizen by issuing certificates. The government order is intended to safeguard the personal liberty of a citizen and should have been issued earlier,” said Binu.
High Court directive
The govt’s decision to bring an order came in the wake of the Kerala High Court directive to make rules for change of name and religion. The HC issued the directive in 2018 while hearing a petition of Thadevoos.