Committed to bringing a law to curb the rising menace of Muslim men pretending to be Hindu to lure Hindu girls into relationships, a phenomenon dubbed as ‘love jihad’, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a meeting held today cleared an ordinance against forced conversions, which the Yogi Adityanath government has been mulling ever since the cases of the purported crime had been gaining its foothold in the state.
The bill on Unlawful Conversion, which has been named Vidhi Virudh Dharmantaran 2020, has provisions that can land offenders in jail for up to 1 to 5 years and attract a fine of Rs 15,000. The bill also has provisions for 10 years’ jail for mass conversion.
The ordinance provides for jail term of 1-5 years with Rs 15,000 penalty for forceful religious conversion. For conversions of minors & women of SC/ST community, there will be jail term of 3-10 years with Rs 25,000 penalty: State Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh https://t.co/D6uTXIAHic
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 24, 2020
The Bill also makes it mandatory for people who want to marry outside one’s own religion to get prior permission from the District Magistrate of the concerned district. For this, two months advance notice has to be given prior to the marriage. It also says that the person who flouts the rule would be entitled to a fine of Rs 10,000 and may attract a jail term of 6 months to 3 years.
Home Dept of Uttar Pradesh sent proposal to law ministry to bring strict law against Love Jihad
Earlier, the Home Department of the Uttar Pradesh government had forwarded a proposal regarding the same to the Department of Law of the state. “A strict law against ‘love jihad’ will soon be brought in the state. Home Department has sent a proposal to the Department of Law,” a statement issued by the home department on November 20 (Friday) said.
Supporting the Allahabad High Court order which invalidated religious conversion just for the sake of marriage, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had warned the miscreants indulging in love jihad by concealing their identities and entrapping girls and women in their relationship.
