MP Cabinet to promulgate 'Love Jihad' Ordinance after Winter session gets cancelled

With the Madhya Pradesh Assembly's Winter session cancelled due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) issue, the Shivraj Chouhan government is planning to promulgate an ordinance implementing its 'Love Jihad Law'. Speaking to reporters on Monday, CM Chouhan said that his cabinet will promulgate the 'MP Freedom to Religion Bill, 2020' on Tuesday by his cabinet. The MP Speaker cancelled the winter session of the Assembly, which was scheduled to begin on December 28, after 61 employees and officials of the Assembly secretariat and five MLAs tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19).

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MP to promulgate "Love Jihad" ordinance

MP cabinet approves Freedom of Religion Bill 2020; min 2-10 years jail term for violators

The 'Love-Jihad Law' in MP

Madhya Pradesh cabinet approved the 'MP Freedom to Religion Bill, 2020' on Saturday, to prevent conversion by marriage and religious conversion by financial 'allurement', fraudulent, and forceful means. The Madhya Pradesh Law, in lines of UP's 'Love Jihad law', too penalises forced conversion with imprisonment of 1-5 years with Rs.15,000 penalty. It too has a special clause for minors, Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe with imprisonment between 3-10 years and the penalty upto Rs.25,000.

Moreover, If a person wants to convert to another religion, he/she has to submit a letter of declaration to the District Magistrate one month in advance. Attempting mass religious conversions (of two or more persons) will attract imprisonment of 5-10 years and a fine of at least Rs.1 lakh. An attempt to hide one's religion too will be punishable by imprisonment of 3-10 years and a fine of at least Rs.50,000, according to the law. Similar to UP, MP's Love Jihad Law does not specifically mention the term 'love jihad' or define it. Apart from these states, Haryana, Karnataka and Assam too are planning to pass such laws. Currently, anti-conversion laws are in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.

61 employees and officials of MP Assembly test COVID positive, winter session put off

What is 'Love Jihad'?

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 it 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.  Earlier this year, MoS Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy informed the Parliament that 'love jihad' is not defined under the current laws adding that no case of 'love jihad' has been reported by any of the Central agencies. 

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