Kishore, a construction worker in Mumbai, has worshiped at a local home church for nearly two years. But his pastor recently asked him to fill out a “consent and self-declaration” form to declare he has participated there with “free will and voluntary intention.” The form requires a passport-sized photo and his name, phone number, address, and verifiable number from a government-issued identity card.
The 39-year-old migrant from West Bengal state in eastern India told Christianity Today that the new security measure terrified him. CT agreed not to disclose Kishore’s full name or location, as he fears being tracked by Hindu nationalists and police. “Why are these details being collected?” he wondered. “Will the police come after me for going to church?”
Churches across Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state in western India, and neighboring cities and towns have been collecting completed consent forms from worshipers as a preventive measure after Maharashtra’s anticonversion law took effect August 28. The Straits Times reported that as many as 4,000 churches in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are collecting the forms.
Every Sunday, Kishore, his wife, and his two sons, ages 12 and 9, join 30 other native Bengali speakers for worship. He doesn’t want to give that up.
“I have no option but to fill [out] the form,” he said. “[The Sunday service] gives me peace and a community in a distant city.”
Pastors and other church leaders are holding on to completed forms—along with photographs and photocopies of government-issued identity cards—as they anticipate heightened scrutiny and harassment.
Pastor Steven Rozario, pastor of New Hope Church in Virar, a coastal city north of Mumbai, asked his congregation to fill out the forms, citing “continuous disruptions and attacks during prayer meetings.”
The form, drafted by Christian leaders, reads in part, “I hereby confirm that attending the church, participating in prayers … is part of my religious freedom and right.” It ends with a warning: “If anyone makes a false allegation against me or the church in this regard, this self-declaration should be treated as evidence and used accordingly.”
Christian leaders who spoke to CT said that although the forms were circulating months ago, they reached more pastors and churches in the last couple weeks as the implementation date for the anticonversion law neared. Believers have been sharing the form through photocopies and WhatsApp.
“Our [lawyers] advised us [about the forms],” said a pastor and senior community leader from Pune, who participated in a series of discussions among prominent Christian leaders in Maharashtra about the new law. (CT agreed not to use his name so he could avoid official scrutiny.) “They said anti-Christian elements will be emboldened with the passage of the law, so we thought it would be better to be safe than sorry.”
Mainline denominations in Mumbai have said they are not asking worshipers to sign self-declaration forms, and a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay said the concerns are greater among home churches and storefront congregations. The scramble to collect signed declarations from congregants illustrates those concerns at smaller churches.
Enacted as the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act 2026, the law criminalizes forced religious conversions. Anybody who wants to embrace a new faith must inform district authorities at least 60 days in advance. Maharashtra joins 12 other Indian states with similar laws.
A person convicted of unlawful conversion is subject to as many as seven years in prison without eligibility for bail and a fine of 100,000 rupees ($1,048 USD).
The broad nature of the law makes it prone to misuse. For instance, anyone—not necessarily someone related to a new convert—can lodge a complaint against a pastor, and the burden of proof is on the accused to prove otherwise. Vague definitions of terms such as allurement and forced provide leeway for Hindu nationalist groups to file cases on flimsy grounds, said the Joint Civil Society, a group opposed to the legislation.
In addition, many new converts from marginalized Dalit and tribal communities risk losing government welfare benefits as authorities increase scrutiny. The legislation has emboldened officials to threaten demolition of unauthorized churches, particularly in tribal areas.
Although the legislation targets forced conversions, the Pune community leader told CT that Christians believe Hindu nationalist groups will use it to “deepen fear” among believers by disrupting their faith-related activity in the state.
Attacks against Christians have surged since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won Maharashtra state elections in a landslide in November 2024. Police registered nine such attacks from April to July this year, but church leaders contend the actual number could be much higher because they often go unreported.
One million Christians live in the state, accounting for less than 1 percent of Maharashtra’s 112.4 million people.
“Our churches are open to everyone,” said Devdan Tribhuvan, pastor and state president of the Maharashtra Christian Development Association. “Many come for peace of mind and meditation. The idea of a consent form or self-declaration is to protect the interest of the community and the church. We don’t want innocent people to be victims of violence.”
