More than 30 rights groups held a joint press conference on Wednesday, March 11, afternoon at the Mumbai Press Club, Azad Maidan in SoBo over the Maharashtra Cabinet’s decision to approve the draft ‘Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 2026’, an anti-conversion law reportedly designed to regulate religious conversion and interfaith relationships.

First speaker activist Teesta Setalvad spoke about the secrecy and opacity of this proposed law. “The autonomy of women is at stake. Maharashtra will also see an uptick in vigilante activism, which will weaponise this law,” she explained. Chayanika Shah, working in the queer space, made a strong case about this law being used to attack women’s freedom, broadening its ambit to “the law will be devastating for the personal autonomy of young people too.” The Bombay Catholic Sabha’s (BCS) Dolphy D’Souza said that this legislation, including conversion through allurement or inducement, “will lead to criminalising all charity works.”