Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on November 17 said that the state government would soon bring in a law to stop ‘love jihad’ in the state.
‘A bill may be brought in in the next assembly session itself to tackle love jihad,’ Mishra said, adding there will be a provision of five years imprisonment in it.
‘Cases will be registered under non-bailable sections…The collaborator will also be the culprit like the main accused,’ Mishra said. ‘For voluntary conversion for marriage, it will be mandatory to apply to the collector a month in advance.’
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had earlier hinted at introducing a new law against ‘love jihad’.
‘Jihad will not be permitted in the name of love at any cost in the state. Necessary legal provisions will be made against love jihad,’ he had said.
In February this year, the Centre had told the Parliament that the term ‘love jihad’ is not defined under any law and no case has been reported by any central agency.
However, on November 6, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said his government was planning to introduce a law against religious conversion in the name of ‘love jihad’.
On the same day, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij also told the state Assembly that the state was mulling a similar law and has sought information from Himachal Pradesh administration which had last year passed a bill against conversion by force.
The Allahabad High Court in September had said that ‘religious conversion only for the purpose of marriage was not acceptable’. The statement was made with reference to its earlier order refusing to interfere in a couple’s petition seeking protection from relatives interfering in their married life.
The Allahabad High Court order stated that the woman was Muslim by birth and had converted to Hinduism in June this year, nearly a month before her marriage.
