Recently, Pope Benedict XVI condemned attempts to ban religious conversions in India. Taking a very strong stand, he told New Delhi's new ambassador to the Vatican, Amitava Tripathi that efforts in some Indian states to outlaw conversions were unconstitutional and should be trounced.

A few days before that the Pope had told Muslim countries that Christian minorities should be given the same rights that are given to Muslim minorities in Western countries.

"The disturbing signs of religious intolerance that have troubled some regions of the nation, including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom, must be firmly rejected," the Pope is said to told Tripathi. He further added that anti-conversion laws were contrary to the highest ideals of India's founding fathers.

He specifically cited attempts by some Indian states to introduce legislation to ban what right-wing Hindus call "forced conversions".

In addition, representatives of different religions will be meeting in in Rome this week to work on a "code of conduct" that would affirm conversion as a basic right but curb aggressive proselytising.

The Vatican and the mostly Protestant and Orthodox World Council of Churches launched the initiative after Christian minorities in India complained about aggressive proselytising by newly arrived evangelical groups.

India's foreign ministry has responded strongly to the Pope's comments. "India is a secular and democratic country, in which adherents of all religious faiths enjoy equal rights," said Junior Foreign Minister Anand Sharma. Sharma told the parliament that the India's disapproval had been communicated to the Pope.

According to reports, Sharma comments sprung from noises that the opposition made that India has taken the comments from the Pope meekly.

The BJP had responded to the Pope a few days back. BJP President Rajnath Singh said in his letter to the Pope, "My interference in your religious domain within the Vatican will be unwelcome, uncalled for and will be treated as interference in your religious management and administration."

Only recently, the state governor of Rajasthan refused to sign a religious freedom bill that would ban people from being converted to religions "against their will". Minority groups and human rights agences who feel that the bill was being introduced to please radical Hindu groups are also opposing it.

The BJP stand is that they are against religious conversion that uses sops and freebies. BJP leaders are upset with the Pope's "interference". They feel that the church is crossing bounds by converting Hindus by force and enticements. Some not-so-radical BJP leaders feel that the Pope was within his right to be concerned about the welfare of Christians, but even then he should not have intefered in the legislative processes of another democratic country.

Christians in India are feeling defensive, though. "The pope was trying to reiterate the freedom of conscience guaranteed on the universe declaration of human rights," said Father Babu Joseph, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).

Christians, who make up just over 2% of India’s total population, have been targeted for some time in BJP-ruled states. In central Madhya Pradesh, many Christians have been arrested this year for preaching Christianity.