Love 'Jihad' is an unofficial term used by radical Hindu groups for referring to an alleged campaign by Muslim men to convert Hindu girls under the pretext of love.
The "UP Vidhi Virudh Dharma Samparivartan Pratishedh Adyadesh 2020" (prohibition of unlawful religious conversion), infamously known as the 'Love Jihad' law, states among other things that a marriage will be declared null and void if the “sole intention” of the same is to “change a girl’s religion”. The law cleared by the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet defines punishment and fine under three different heads. Currently, three other BJP-ruled states – Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka – are also mulling laws designed to prevent "forcible conversions" through marriage.
Key features of the Love Jihad law:
* Marriage for the sheer purpose of converting a girl's religion will be declared null and void, with a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
* Forceful religious conversion will be punishable with a jail term of 1-5 years with Rs 15,000 penalty. If the woman is a minor or belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the jail term will be between 3 years and 10 years and the penalty would go up to Rs 25,000.
* Mass conversions will be punishable with a jail term of 3-10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000 on the organisations conducting it.
* If someone wants to convert their religion after marriage, they will have to submit an application to the District Magistrate two months in advance.
Apprehensions against the 'Love Jihad' law
Vigilante groups have in the past used the ruse of “love jihad” to disrupt mixed weddings and harass and intimidate interfaith couples even though investigations by state agencies have found no evidence to back such theories. The movement has also been described by some as antifeminist due to paternalistic attitudes towards women's choice in marriage and by allegedly using women's rights as a cover for so-called Hindu nationalism. Days before the Love Jihad law was passed, the Allahabad High Court pronounced that the “right to live with a person of his/her choice, irrespective of religion professed by them, is intrinsic to right to life and personal liberty” while overturning an earlier ruling in a case filed against a Muslim man by the parents of his Hindu wife. In 2018, the Supreme Court similarly set aside an order annulling an interfaith wedding. Meanwhile, a special police team in Uttar Pradesh said to have been specifically appointed to investigate “love jihad” declared it found no proof of a conspiracy.
How is this different from other anti-conversion laws?
Though there have been anti-conversion laws in India since 1967, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were the first states to introduce a clause regarding marriages. Uttarakhand's Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, prohibits conversion by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage. Its punishment ranges from a jail term of one to five years and a fine, making it a non-bailable offence. Himachal Pradesh also passed a similar law in 2019.
'Love Jihad' explained
Love 'Jihad' is a term referring to an alleged campaign by Muslim men to convert Hindu girls under the pretext of love. NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma has often claimed that Kerala has 'rampant' love jihad, adding that they (alluding to Muslims) were luring women – not just Hindus, but even Christians, and forcefully converting them in Kerala. After investigation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) stated that though it had found a common mentor in some of the Kerala cases in August 2017, there was no evidence of attempted or forced conversion in such cases. Previously, the Union government stated in Parliament that 'love jihad' was not defined under the current laws adding that no case of 'love jihad' had been reported by any of the central agencies.
Who can convert? How can people convert under the new law in UP?
Under the new law, anyone wanting to convert into another religion would have to give it in writing to the District Magistrate at least two months in advance. The government will prepare a format for the application and individuals will have to fill the application for conversion in that format.
However, under the new law, it would be the responsibility of the one going for the religious conversion to prove that it is not taking place forcefully or with any fraudulent means. In case any violation is found under this provision, one faces a jail term from 6 months to 3 years and a fine of at least Rs 10,000.
History of 'Love Jihad' allegations
The concept came to national attention in India in 2009 with alleged conversions first in Kerala and subsequently in Karnataka. The claims were subsequently spread throughout India and beyond, into Myanmar, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The modern Love Jihad conspiracy has roots in colonial India. In 1924, a Muslim bureaucrat in Kanpur was accused of "abducting and seducing" a Hindu girl and forcefully converting her. A Hindu group demanded the "recovery" of the woman from the bureaucrat's house.
The abduction of Hindu women was even debated in Parliament in colonial India. The 1947 partition led to the creation of India and Pakistan with different majority religions. This led to large-scale migration, with millions of people moving between the countries and rampant reports of sexual predation and forced conversions. Women on both sides of the conflict were impacted, leading to "recovery operations" by both the Indian and Pakistani governments. This tense history caused repeated clashes between the faiths in the decades that followed as well.
During the resurgence of the controversy in 2014, protests turned violent amid growing concerns, even though, according to Reuters, the concept was considered "an absurd conspiracy theory by mainstream, moderate Indians.
In May 2017, the Kerala High Court annulled a marriage of a converted Hindu woman Akhila alias Hadia to a Muslim man Shafeen Jahan on the grounds that the bride's parents were not present, nor gave consent for the marriage. The decision of the court was challenged by Shafeen Jahan in the Supreme Court of India, which overturned the annulment of Hadiya's marriage by the Kerala HC.
In September 2020, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked his government to come up with a strategy to prevent "religious conversions in the name of love" and even considered passing an ordinance for the same if needed.
