‘Love Jihad’: UP Government Becomes the Third State to Clear Ordinance against Unlawful Conversions

Lucknow: The government of Uttar Pradesh approved the draft of a hard and fast law to put a barrier on the unlawful conversions, referred to as “Love Jihad” by the BJP leaders. The approval for the directive was given by Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He gave the approval at a meeting of the state cabinet, which took place in Lucknow.

State cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh stated – “In cases of forced mass conversions, the ordinance provides for a jail term of 3-10 years with Rs.50,000/- penalty. If a person wants to perform marriage after converting into any other religion, they will need to take permission from the DM two months before marriage.”

Uttar Pradesh is the third state to announce an enactment of legislation to put a barrier on “love jihad”, as Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have already implemented rules against unlawful conversions. The law finally came into force after the submission of a report on the subject by state law commission to CM Adityanath last year, along with a draft titled ‘Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019’, which proposed that “conversion done for the sole purpose of marriage to be declared null and void”.