UP's 'Love Jihad' law explained: What is it and how is different from other states' laws

A day after the Yogi Adityanath government has passed the 'Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Bill 2020' ordinance, several other BJP-ruled states like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Assam have prepared drafts to pass similar laws. While Adityanath had proclaimed that he will pass a law against 'love jihad' in a UP bypoll campaign, UP is not the first BJP government to pass such a law. Currently, anti-conversion laws are in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

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So what is UP's law against 'Love Jihad'?

While the law does not mention 'love Jihad' or defines the term, it makes forceful religious conversion, including through marriage, punishable with a jail term of 1-5 years with Rs 15,000 penalty. Moreover, if the woman is a minor or belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the jail term will be between 3-10 years and the penalty upto Rs 25,000. The law also punishes mass conversions with jail term is of 3-10 years and fine of Rs. 50,000 on the organisations conducting it. This ordinance will be soon tabled in the Assembly to pass as an Act.

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Key features of the bill:

• Marriage for the sheer purpose of converting a girl's religion will be declared null and void, with a punishment up to 10 years.
•  Forceful religious conversion, including through marriage, punishable with a jail term of 1-5 years with Rs 15,000 penalty. If the woman is a minor or belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the jail term will be between 3-10 years and the penalty upto Rs 25,000. 
• Mass conversions punishable with jail term is of 3-10 years and 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 (DM) two months in advance.

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How is this different from the 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 too has passed a similar law in 2019.

Meanwhile, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is planning to introduce Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 in the next session. The bill proposes rigorous imprisonment for the period of five years for luring a person through fraud and forcing marriage by religious conversion, making it non-bailable. BJP in Assam, on the other hand, is planning to introduce the law after being re-elected to power in the 2021 Assam Assembly polls.

What do the courts say?

Prior to Yogi Adityanath's proclamation, the  Allahabad  High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by a married couple seeking stay on their families from interfering in their marriage. The court observed that the Muslim-born woman converted to Hindu in June and then married as per Hindu rituals in July, clearly revealing that the conversion has taken place only for the purpose of marriage. Ruling that conversion just for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable, the High Court said it will not interfere in the matter.

But days later, another Allahabad HC bench reiterated that a person’s right to live with people of their choice, irrespective of religion, is intrinsic to their right to life and personal liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. Terming the earlier verdicts as incorrect, it said 'they do not lay down good law'. Similarly, Delhi High Court, on Thursday, ruled that an adult/major girl is "free to reside wherever and with whoever she wishes to reside", while hearing a plea filed by the family of a girl, claiming she was 'kidnapped', which was refuted by the woman.

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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.