An Arunachal Pradesh Act, passed unanimously by the legislature 48 years ago, when it was still a Union Territory, has stirred the hornet’s nest. The Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978 (Act No. 4 of 1978), one of India’s earliest state-level anti-conversion laws was enacted during the tenure of the state’s first Chief Minister, Prem Khandu Thungon to protect the socio-cultural fabric and indigenous practices of local tribal communities from external religious influences. However, as the rules were not been notified, it was in limbo all this while. Meanwhile, in August 2017, the current CM, Pema Khandu, approved the establishment of a new Department of Indigenous Faith & Cultural Affairs (DIFCA).
However, this did not abate the conversion momentum. While the Christian population of the state was 0.79% in 1971, it rose to 4.32 % in 1981 and, by 2021, it had become the largest single denomination in the state with 30 %, adherents, followed by Hinduism at 29 %, Indigenous faiths – Doniyo Polo, Rangfrah, Ringya Jawmalu, Nani Intaye and Nyezi Ho – at 27% and different sects of Buddhism at about 12%.
In 2022, advocate Tambo Tamin filed a PIL in the Guwahati High Court (GHC), seeking rules for the Act’s implementation. On 1 October 2024, the Itanagar Bench of the Court directed the Arunachal Pradesh government to finalise and notify the operational rules for the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (APFRA). The Pema Khandu government appointed a committee under Justice (Retd) Brojendra Prasad Katakey, which included two ministers, Kento Jini and Balo Raja, two bureaucrats, and heads of six organisations – Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF), Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP), Monpa Mimang Tsogpa, Tai Khamti Development Society, Arunachal Vikas Parishad, and the State unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Although ACF president Tarh Miri has been included in the HPC, the organisation stated that the panel’s constitution undermined its demand for the scrapping of the APFRA.
After the committee submitted its report on 8 June 2026, both IFCSAP and ACF have raised the ante. While IFCSAP has urged the State government to take timely steps towards notifying the Rules under the APFRA, the ACF is seeking its cancellation terming it against the letter and spirit of Article 25 (freedom to practice and propagate religion).
Even as the state is grappling with these issues, another issue – that of Bangladeshis/Rohingyas entering the state on account of the strict enforcement of CAA in Assam by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma – is also gaining ground, especially in subdivisions like Bhalukpong in West Kameng on the Sonitpur border (Assam) and Lekang circle in Arunachal and Tinsukia in Assam. Last month, the Arunachal Pradesh Indigenous Youth Organisation president Taro Sonam Liyak stepped up the campaign against “illegal migrants” to safeguard the demography of the indigenous community. While a special task force has been set up for the strictest enforcement of the ILP to prevent any non-bonafide entry into the state, one has to remember that the border is not only long but also porous as forests and riverine tracts crisscross the two states.
The hornet’s nest has indeed been stirred. Pema Khandu is walking on a tight rope. One hopes that it does not snap.
