News Analysis India

Tag: Love Jihad

  • Love jihad not as big a problem in Uttarakhand as in other states: CM Tirath Singh Rawat

    By PTI
    HARIDWAR: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has said ‘love jihad’ is not as big a “problem” in Uttarakhand as in other states, but asserted he would certainly take steps to stop it. Speaking at a meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Margdarshak Mandal here Friday, Rawat said he had recently held a meeting with officials to find out how prevalent the practice is in the hill state.

    “The problem is not as big here as in some other states. But it is certain that I will take steps to stop it,” Rawat said The issue of love jihad figured prominently at the meeting with seers demanding stringent laws to put an end to the practice, sources said.

  • ‘They combined these two words again’: Salman Khurshid hits out at BJP on ‘Love Jihad’

    By ANI
    KOCHI: Reacting to Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan’s statement that the NDA would bring a law against Love Jihad in Kerala, former Union Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid asked why the BJP has combined the words “love” and “jihad” apparently without understanding their meaning.

    Khurshid said, “I don’t know whether BJP members understand the English language. Do they know what is Jihad? And do they know what is love? They have combined these two words again.”

    Khurshid further said, “The Supreme Court has clarified in the case that they came from Kerala, clarified in cases that came from Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere. There is a right to autonomy and the right to dignity that every human being has. Every person under the Constitution has this right. And the implications of autonomy and equality and dignity. The implications of that can be seen in different cases on different facts. I am not quite sure that the judgment given by the Supreme Court has in any way endorsed what the BJP thinks.”

    “Frankly, who would endorse something the BJP thinks, because one doesn’t know on they think. I don’t know what they mean by it. What is it I wish they would explain. And one could disabuse them and say I am sorry but this is all you are talking about. Reality is completely different,” he said.

    On the NDA’s promise to bring a law to protect the traditions of Sabarimala, he said, “Sabarimala is as we all know an extremely important and sensitive subject. This subject is one on which the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench pronounced its judgement. Curiously, it was the only woman judge, Justice Malhotra who dissented and said the constitutional morality of our constitution doesn’t permit interference whereas four judges said that interference was justified.”

    “This is something that one can simply say it is the final word although there is four-judge majority in this. I think it has become more apparent that the way people have responded that this is not the final word. This is not the only area in which there is difficulty in how we and society perceive our traditional rights what we associate as being religious rights and the manner in which moral cause has sometimes interpreted has not been relevant,” the Congress leader said.

    He further said, “This is not something you should exploit for an election. This is a very important sensitive thing on which people may have to separate views. But the fact that you have a separate view shouldn’t mean that you should insult the view of the other side or that you should consider that to be relevant.”

    “I personally think and I believe all sensible people will say this. Sabarimala is the problem with we all have to internalise and find an ultimate working solution. It is not that something you should exploit for the purpose of an election and reduce it to slogans,” he added.

    The BJP has supported the remark of Kerala Congress (M) chief Jose K Mani who had said that the alleged ‘love jihad’ cases in Kerala should be studied and clarified if there is such suspicion.

    Speaking to ANI, Muraleedharan said BJP didn’t rake up the issue and the Christian community is worried about this. “BJP didn’t rake up the issue. This is an issue that has been there and alive in the society about which many community leaders had expressed their opinion. Christian community is worried about the issue that marriages are happening in the guise of love marriage ultimately aiming at conversion,” Muraleedharan said.

    “I would say Jose K Mani has raised worries and apprehensions of the Christian community. It is for mainstream parties to come out openly and express their opinions on the issue. BJP has responded to this and has come out openly to a live issue saying that there are apprehensions in minds of people and it should be addressed,” he said.

    State assembly elections for the 140-member Kerala will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

  • Bill penalising conversion by marriage to be tabled in Gujarat Assembly

    By PTI
    GANDHINAGAR; A bill penalising forcible or fraudulent religious conversion by marriage with three to ten years in jail and a fine of upto Rs five lakh is likely to be tabled in the Gujarat Assembly next week.

    The bill, which amends a 2003 Act, seeks to curb the “emerging trend in which women are lured to marriage for the purpose of religious conversion” as per its “statement of object”.

    The copy of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill was made available in the Assembly on Friday.

    Similar laws have been enacted in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

    The bill says it is necessary to prohibit “forcible conversion by marriage or by getting a person married or by aiding a person to get married,” and hence the amendment is being carried out.

    The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003 deals with religious conversion “through allurement, force or by misrepresentation or by any other fraudulent means”.

    “However, there are episodes of religious conversion promising better lifestyle, divine blessings and impersonation.

    There is an emerging trend in which women are lured to marriage for the purpose of religious conversion,” the bill says.

    The amendment also defines “allurement” as promising “better lifestyle, divine blessings, or otherwise”.

    “Forcible conversion by marriage, or by getting a person married” shall invite imprisonment of 3-5 years and up to Rs 2 lakh fine.

    If the victim is a minor, a woman, a Dalit or tribal, then the offenders may be punished with a jail term of 4-7 years and a fine of not less than Rs 3 lakh.

    If any organisation is found violating the law, the person-in-charge can be sentenced to between three years to ten years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh can be imposed.

    Marriages solemnized for the purpose of such conversion will be declared void.

    Also, the burden of proof shall lie on the accused.

    Parents, siblings or any other person related by blood, marriage or adoption to the victim can lodge a complaint.

    Offences will be non-bailable.

  • Faridabad court convicts two in Nikita Tomar murder case

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: A fast-track court in Haryana’s Faridabad on Wednesday convicted two men in connection with the murder of Nikita Tomar, five months after she was shot outside her college in a crime caught on camera.

    Prime accused Tausif and another man, Rehan, were held guilty and a third accused Azharuddin acquitted in the case, defence counsel Adal Singh Rawat said.

    Faridabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Sartaj Baswana’s court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Friday, defence counsel P L Goyal said.

    Tomar was killed in Ballabhgarh in Faridabad district on October 26 by Tausif, who had been pressuring her to marry him, police had then said.

    As the murder triggered outrage, Home Minister Anil Vij linked it with “love jihad”, a reference to right-wing allegations that love affairs and marriages are being used to fraudulently convert Hindu women.

    In his reply to a calling attention motion on the murder, he told the state assembly said the government was planning to bring a Bill to tackle “love jihad”.

    The final-year B. Com student had stepped out of her college after an exam when Tausif confronted her, trying to force her into a car, police had said.

    The two accused were later arrested on the basis of CCTV footage of the crime.

    The Faridabad police filed a 700-page chargesheet before the court on November 6, less than two weeks after the murder The trial began on December 1 and final arguments in the case ended on Tuesday.

    Reacting to the verdict, victim’s father Moolchand Tomar said, “We have full faith in our judicial system and we are hopeful that Nikita will get justice.”

    He said the family has been demanding capital punishment for the accused.

    “There should be a strong deterrence so that no one else will dare to commit such a crime in future,” he said.

    “We want the culprits hanged. Nikita sacrificed her life against love jihad,” he said.

    Tomar said his daughter was a young woman who had big dreams.

    “She wanted to dedicate her life to the service of her country. But her dreams were cut short.”

    The two men have been convicted under sections 302 (murder), 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel her into marriage) and 120-B/34 (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

    Tausif was also held guilty under the Arms Act.

    Azharuddin, who has been acquitted, was arrested on charges of supplying the illicit gun used in the crime.

  • Indore: Bajrang Dal workers suspect man of luring woman for ‘conversion’, raise slogans

    By PTI
    INDORE: Bajrang Dal workers on Wednesday created ruckus at a tourist spot in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore over the suspicion that a man was luring a woman for religious conversion, police said.

    On being alerted, police reached the spot and brought the situation under control, an official said.

    The drama unfolded two days after the Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2021, which prohibits religious conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means.

    City Superintendent of Police (CSP) BPS Parihar said, “The man and the woman, aged around 20-25 years, were sitting in the Lalbagh Palace complex. However, Bajrang Dal activists suspected that they belong to different religions.”

    These activists demanded that the identity of the couple be established, he said, adding that the man soon disappeared from the Lalbagh complex.

    “Bajrang Dal activists accused an officer in the Lalbagh complex of driving the man away from the spot,” Parihar said.

    According to the CSP, when the police spoke to the woman associated with the incident, she claimed that she did not know the man and that they were sitting away from each other.

    He said the footage of the CCTV installed in the Lalbagh complex is being examined.

    Meanwhile, some videos of the incident have surfaced in which Bajrang Dal activists are seen demanding the arrest of the man during an argument with police personnel in the Lalbagh complex.

    These activists are also heard raising slogans “Love jihad murdabad”.

    Pappu Kochle, convenor of the Bajrang Dal district unit, has confirmed the presence of workers of his organisation in the Lalbagh complex in connection with the incident.

  • With familiar script of Ram, cow, and ‘love jihad’, Yogi starts Bengal campaign

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  BJP’s star campaigner, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, descended on poll-bound West Bengal on Tuesday with a rich embellishment to his ideological themes such as Ram temple, cow slaughter and ‘love jihad’ and warned the Mamata Banerjee government that it would ignore them at the cost of its ouster. 

    Yogi’s ‘how dare you’ speech at Malda took a swipe at his Bengal counterpart, who had felt “offended” with the chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

    “I’d like to remind Mamata Didi that there was a government in UP which had ordered firing on Lord Ram devotees in Ayodhya. You can see the condition of that government now. Now it’s the TMC government’s turn,” he said.

    Further harping on the theme of religious sentiments, Yogi said Durga Puja got “prohibited” in Bengal and cow slaughter was done during Eid.

    Incidents of cow smuggling were going on with impunity while “the state government remains silent”.

    He promised that cow smuggling will be stopped within a day if the BJP is voted to power in the state.

    On ‘love jihad’, he said the state government must learn from UP which has made a law outlawing ‘forcible marriages’ that resulted in religious conversion.

    “Appeasement politics for the sake of vote bank has endangered the security of not only West Bengal but also of the country.

    The TMC has a problem with refugees getting citizenship but has no issue with illegal immigrants coming to the state,” Adityanath said at a rally in the minority-dominated Gazole area of Malda district, which borders Bangladesh.

    “Through fraud and deceit, incidents of ‘Love Jihad’ are taking place in Bengal. Women of the state are not safe. We have made a law against ‘Love Jihad’ in UP. But in Bengal, where the state government is indulging in politics of appeasement, neither are there attempts to curb cattle smuggling nor dangerous incidents of ‘Love Jihad’,” he said.

    “In the same way, the state government has been unable to stop cow smuggling and political violence,” he said.

    Yogi accused the Mamata government of blocking the central schemes and assured the people that they would celebrate ‘Deepotsav of nationalism’ on May 2, when the Assembly poll results are declared. He is likely to address at least a dozen rallies in Bengal. 

    His comments drew sharp reactions from the TMC, which said that West Bengal doesn’t need sermons on law and order from Yogi Adityanath as his state has recorded the highest number of incidents of crime against women.

    Claiming that the raising of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, Adityanath said that the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the TMC government for “playing with their religious sentiments”.

    “Jai Shri Ram slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, but people won’t allow this to continue. Just see what happened to those who opposed the Ram temple. The people of India don’t take any other name other than Ram. Those who are Ram ‘drohi’ (traitors) do not have a place here,” he said.

    Adityanath asked the TMC government why it is opposed to ‘Ram bhakts’ but has a “nexus with forces that bring anarchy in the state”.

    Claiming that West Bengal, which had once led the nation, is now facing a lawless situation, Adityanath said the state needs a “double engine BJP government” to regain its lost glory.

    Several senior TMC leaders were quick to respond to the allegations and said West Bengal did not need sermons from him and rather he should look at the dismal track record of his state.

    They also raised the issue of a 50-year-old man who was allegedly shot dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district by an accused out on bail in a case of molestation lodged in 2018 against the victim’s daughter.

    “Yet ANOTHER Hathras! The count of dreadful incidents being reported from the @BJP4India-ruled UP is unending! The people of UP are suffering as the state of law and order is in shackles, yet @myogiadityanathis in Bengal?? #BJPHataoBetiBachao,” TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said on social media.

    “In a poll-bound state, Mr @myogiadityanath comes & spreads misinformation to fool people.

    While @BJP4Bengal leaders were spreading Fake News, the family members of the lady informed that she was already suffering from a medical condition resulting in the swelling,” she said in a series of tweets.

    Elections to the 294-member assembly will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • BJP will stop ‘Love Jihad’, cow smuggling in Bengal if voted to power: Yogi at Malda rally

    By PTI
    MALDA: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday lambasted his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee for allegedly pursuing appeasement politics and endangering national security by allowing illegal immigrants into the state for vote bank politics.

    He promised that cow smuggling will be stopped within a day if the BJP is voted to power in the state.

    Claiming that West Bengal, which had once led the nation, is now facing a lawless situation, Adityanath, while addressing a rally in Malda district’s Gazole, alleged that incidents of ‘Love Jihad’ are happening in the state, but the TMC government has failed to stop them.

    “Appeasement politics for the sake of vote bank has endangered the security of not only West Bengal but also of the country. The TMC government has a problem with refugees getting citizenship but has no issue with illegal immigrants coming to the state,” Adityanath said.

    Claiming that the raising of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, Adityanath said that the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the TMC government for “playing with their religious sentiments”.

    “Jai Shri Ram slogan is not allowed in West Bengal, but people won’t allow this to continue. ‘Love Jihad’ incidents are happening in Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, we have made a law to stop such incidents but the TMC government has failed to stop both cow smuggling and ‘Love Jihad’,” he said.

    “If the BJP is voted to power in West Bengal, we will stop cow smuggling within 24 hours,” he added.

    Elections to the 294-member assembly will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29.

  • Will stop conversion of Hindu girls with a strict law: Gujarat CM

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday said at an election rally that his government will bring in a law against “love jihad” to stop the “kidnapping” and conversion of Hindu girls.

    Speaking at Godhra in Panchmahal district, Rupani reiterated the government’s intention to table the legislation in the coming budget session of the state Assembly.

    BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have enacted laws to penalize `fraudulent conversions’ to stop what party leaders term as “love Jihad” or an alleged conspiracy to convert Hindu women through marriage.

    “Assembly session is starting from March 1 and my government is willing to bring in a strict law against love jihad. We will not tolerate this act of kidnapping of Hindu girls,” Rupani said.

    “Women are being lured and converted. This new law is aimed at stopping such activities,” he said.

    He was campaigning for February 28 elections to municipalities, taluka and district panchayats in the state.

    Rupani had announced on February 15 for the first time that the BJP government in the state will bring in such a law.

    BJP MLA Shailesh Mehta and the party’s Vadodara MP Ranjanben Bhatt had earlier called for a law on the lines of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

  • UP legislature passes bill on religious conversion amid Opposition protests

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh legislature on Thursday passed a bill aimed at curbing religious conversions by fraudulent or any other undue means, including through marriage.

    The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2021, was passed in the Legislative Council by voice vote a day after it got the nod in the state Assembly.

    After lunch, the Bill was tabled in the Upper House where the government does not enjoy a majority.

    Leader of Opposition Ahmed Hasan (Samajwadi Party) and Deepak Singh of Congress pointed to the shortcomings of the bill and urged that it be sent to a select committee.

    In the 100-member UP Legislative Council, the SP has 51 members followed by the BJP which has 32 members.

    Bahujan Samaj Party has 6 MLCs, while the Congress has two MLCs.

    Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Shikshak Dal (non-political) have 1 MLC each.

    There are five independents.

    Two seats are vacant.

    During the discussion on the Bill, Shashank Yadav (SP) said that a few sections of the Bill are totally against the basic value of the Constitution.

    “The view of the government that religious conversion cannot be done by violating law is right, but for this laws are already present,” he added.

    “There have been some cases in which the parents of the boy and the girl are saying that the marriage is taking place with consent from both sides. But, any person is lodging a complaint citing blood relationship, and the police is registering a case,” Yadav said.

    BSP member Dinesh Chandra said there are provisions already present in the Constitution to stop forcible religious conversion, and hence there is no need for a new law.

    Leader of the House and UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said the intention of the government is not to allow the misuse of this law.

    “This (law) is not related to any particular religion. If any Hindu indulges in an act like this, he is also eligible for punishment. This law has been brought so that no one can be influenced or harassed to change religion,” Sharma said.

    Chairman Kunwar Manvendra Singh rejected the proposals of amendments given by the Leader of the Opposition and SP members, saying that the proposals are not as per the law.

    Amidst the ruckus made by the SP members, the chairman declared that the Bill has been passed by voice vote.

    After this, SP members came towards the well of the House, and tore copies of the Bill.

    The chairman told them to go to their seats, but when they did not do so, he adjourned the House for 10 minutes.

    The Bill seeks to replace the ordinance promulgated in November last year that provides for imprisonment up to 10 years and a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 for violators.

    Under the provisions of the Bill, a marriage will be declared “null and void” if the conversion is solely for that purpose, and those wishing to change their religion after marriage need to apply to the district magistrate.

    The Bill mainly envisages that no person shall convert, either directly or indirectly, from one religion to another by use or practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage nor shall any person abet, convince or conspire such conversion.

    The onus to prove that the conversion has not been done forcibly will lie on the person accused of the act and the convert, it said.

    An aggrieved person, his/her parents, brother, sister, or any other person who is related to him/her by blood, marriage or adoption may lodge an FIR about such conversion, according to the Bill.

    BJP leaders had said the legislation intends to counter alleged attempts to convert Hindu women to Islam in the guise of marriage, which right-wing Hindu activists refer to as “love jihad”.

  • Haryana to table anti-conversion bill in upcoming budget session: Anil Vij

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government will bring in a bill against religious conversions through force or fraudulent means in the upcoming budget session of the Assembly, state Home Minister Anil Vij said here on Thursday.

    Presiding over a meeting of a committee formed to draft the bill recently, the state home minister had said, “The enactment of this law will prevent any attempt to get religious conversion by force, inducement, bluff of marriage or by any other unethical methods by anyone in the state”.

    On Thursday, he told reporters, “We have prepared a draft of the bill against religious conversions (through force or fraud) and it will be brought in the coming budget session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha.”

    Vij had earlier said that the “drafting committee” formed to frame the bill comprised Secretary, Home-I Department, T L Satyaprakash; Additional Director General of Police Navdeep Singh Virk and Additional Advocate General Deepak Manchanda.

    In November last year, Vij had announced the setting up of the three-member committee to draft a bill against “love jihad”, a term used by BJP leaders to describe religious conversions in the guise of marriage.

    The announcement had come days after the Uttar Pradesh government cleared a draft ordinance against conversion through force or fraudulent means.

    Vij had then told the Haryana Assembly that the state government was considering a law against “love jihad” and had sought information from Himachal Pradesh.

    The Himachal Pradesh Assembly had passed a bill in 2019 against conversion by force, inducement or through a marriage solemnised for the “sole purpose” of adopting a new religion.

    Replying to a calling attention motion in the Haryana Assembly on the murder of a young woman in Ballabhgarh, the state home minister had said, “Anyone can marry anyone, anyone can fall in love with anyone. But if there is a conspiracy for changing religion by trapping someone in love, then it is very important to stop that conspiracy. We will take whatever steps are required.”