The intent of Love-jihad
There have always been many conspiracy theories around inter-faith marriages. Even though high courts and many investigations have stated there is no evidence of the conspiracy that Muslims lure Hindu or Christian women to convert them, this was a prevailing issue. The Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance itself does not mention the term “love jihad” but has become a common term used by many due to the frequent conspiracy related issues. The most important thing to understand is that they are not against any religion or against inter-faith marriages that do or don’t contain conversions as long as there is no malevolent behavior. Therefore, the intent of the new law is to suppress any forced religious conversions. Getting married doesn’t mean you have to change your religion and no one has the right to force you. That too it was mostly the girl who would have to convert. It’s important to understand the intention of the law because there have already been cases where inter-faith marriages were objected even though the bride and groom were willing to get married out of their own free will. Under the law, those wanting to convert to another religion would have to give it in writing to a district magistrate two months in advance. The government will be giving the individual an application to convert. The one going under religious conversion has to prove that it’s not taking place under any fraudulent means.
Features of the Ordinance
The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of the Illegal Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020 sets a prison term of 1-5 years and a fine of Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 under various categories. In the circumstance of such a conversion consisting of a minor, a woman from the Scheduled Caste or the Scheduled Tribe, those found guilty will have to face a prison sentence ranging anywhere from three to 10 years, with a minimum fine of Rs 25.000. On the other hand, if certain conversions are found at the mass level, those guilty will face a prison sentence lasting between three to ten years, with a minimum fine of Rs 50,000. The proposed law states that the marriage will be declared as void if the "soul purpose" of the marriage was to change the groom or bride's religion. Under the UP ordinance, an accused would have to show proof that they weren’t responsible for any sort of forced religious conversion through allurements, misrepresentation, undue influence, or any other fraudulent method.
Arrests under the law
So far, two arrests have taken place after the law came into play. The first case was a father claiming that his daughter, who has married already, was forced to convert to Islam by a different man who knew her from the village she stayed in previously. Later on, the daughter stated that she ran away from her house because she was upset with her parents and that this man had no connection to her. The second case consists of a woman claiming to be have been married but was refused to register the marriage because the groom’s family was only interested in converting her. She also claimed that the mother and brother of the groom kicked her stomach and assaulted her when she was pregnant so that there would no longer be any proof of her pregnancy. She wanted the complaint to be booked under the new law but they couldn’t book the accused under that law since the FIR was filed before the new law.
If they were to do that for everyone, there would be cases dating from way back. In both of these cases, the families of the boys have stated that their son was being framed which opened up a larger discussion on how there could be a possibility of the law being misused for personal reasons, needing an in-depth investigation. Another issue with the law is its vagueness. The law makes it a criminal offense to convert a person by offering her an “allurement”. The word allurement could even be misused for an act out of innocence such as providing a gift. If a Hindu were to give a non-Hindu a book related to Hinduism and the non-Hindu decides to convert, then this could be used against the Hindu as an act of allurement which could be an issue. A person cannot be put behind bars for doing something that a penal law does not clearly and unequivocally prohibit. Although the law’s intention is to suppress unlawfully forced marriages, there is a need for clarity and in-depth investigation in any forth-coming cases.
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