Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whose government passed the anti-conversions law, is astonished at Pope Benedict's concern over proselytization in India.

In May, Pope Benedict had condemned moves in India to ban religious conversions.

In an article in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece Organiser, Chouhan claimed that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had written a letter to a Christian body reportedly expressing her views on conversion and said: 'only a novice in the political history of the Congress and its post-freedom

development will say something like what Sonia said in the letter.'

Chouhan also wondered why the Congress party did not question the Vatican's views on conversions.

"Why is Pope so much concerned about conversions in India only," he queried, insisting that conversions were not part of universal declaration of human rights.