UP’s Anti-Conversion Law 2020 & Love Jihad

On Tuesday 24th November 2020, the Uttar Pradesh government passed an ordinance to deal with unlawful religious conversions (Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance,2020). The UP government had said that it was enacted to tackle forceful conversion.  The law makes conversion non-bailable with up to 10 years of jail time if undertaken lawfully and requires that religious conversions for marriage in Uttar Pradesh to be approved by a district magistrate. Even though there were no mentioning of love jihad in the law there were allegations and claims by media and opposing political party members that this law was passed to prevent ‘Love Jihad’. Love Jihad is an Islamophobic and conspiracy theory alleging that the Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam through love and marriage.

But the UP government completely refused it. The ordinance was passed after Yogi Adityanath government launched ‘Mission Shakti’, a campaign for the safety and security of women in the state. Jurisprudence from High Courts across the country have said that conversion is not a casual matter. Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission under Justice Aditya Nath Mittal in 2019, had compiled a report on unlawful religious conversion and proposed a draft Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act,2019. The commission stated that Indian Penal Code is not sufficient to prevent conversions.

The ordinance lays down a procedure to ensure that any conversion from one religion to another is only done with free consent. As per the ordinance, now whoever desires to convert is required to give declarations to the District Magistrate at least 60 days before and within 60 days after the conversion. Not only this, but the person who is converting(converter) needs to give a notice of 30 days prior to the conversion.  Also, the authorities are required to conduct a routine enquiry regarding the cause of such conversion. These procedures are somewhat help in prevention of forceful conversions. This does not apply to the Special Marriage Act. People of different faith who wish to marry each other can still follow due procedure under the Special Marriage Act.

After passing one month of passing the law in UP, around 51 arrests were made and 14 cases were lodged.

Other Anti Conversion Laws In India

  • In 1967, Odisha was the first Indian state to pass a law against religious conversion.
  • Madhya Pradesh followed its own anti conversion law in 1968.
  • Arunachal Pradesh enacted a similar law in 1978.
  • In 2002, Tamil Nadu passed the Tamil Nadu prohibition of forcible conversion Act.

Key Provisions Of The UP’s Anti-Conversion Law

  • Marriage for the sheer purpose of converting a girl’s religion will be declared as 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 Rs15,000 penalty. If the woman is a minor or belongs to Scheduled caste or Scheduled tribe, the jail term is 3-10 years and the penalty up to Rs25,000.
  • Mass conversions punishable with jail term is of 3-10 years and fine of Rs50,000 on the organizations conducting it.
  • If someone wants to convert their religion after marriage, they will have to apply to the District Magistrate two months in advance.

The ordinance is based on the September 2020 judgement of Allahabad High Court, single judge bench case titled,

 1. Priyanshi alias Km. Shamren and others v. State of UP and another. [Writ C No.14288 of 2020]

 In the said case, the court observed that the first petitioner had converted her religion on June 29, 2020 and just after one month, they have solemnized their marriage on July 31, 2020, which clearly reveals to this court that the said conversion has taken place only for the purpose of marriage. The court also referred to the case of Noor Jahan Begum in 2014.

2.Shafin Jahan v. Ashokan K.M [(2018) SC 343]

On the conversion and subsequent marriage of Hadiya. It was held that in this case, how Hadiya chooses to lead her life is entirely a matter of her choice.

Constitutional Validity Of The Ordinance

Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance,2020, is considered as morally and constitutionally invalid by several. The ordinance gives the state policing powers over a citizen’s choice of life partner or religion and thus militated against the fundamental rights to individual autonomy, privacy, human dignity, and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution (right to life and personal liberty). Through the anti-conversion ordinance, now the government can easily control over the life of citizens as every religious conversion now requires to be certified by government. There are also allegations regarding this ordinance that it is passed to hinder interfaith marriages specifically. But it is said by the government that it does not hinder interfaith marriages as it is passed to prevent forceful and unfair conversions.

Through this ordinance every religious conversion is presumed to be illegal. So, the burden to prove the reality lies upon the person who is accused of forceful conversion. They have the liability to prove that the conversion was not illegal. There is a high risk in not proving the claims and the accused is found guilty without doing anything wrong. A lot of arrests will happen because of the application of the ordinance. If the accused person has done anything wrong and still punished will be considered as inequality. Also, the government does not have to deal with the personal beliefs of any human. Because as per the provisions under our constitution everyone has the right to follow his or her belief, they can be an atheist if they want. Only the personal beliefs of the human being’s matter. Another issue which would arise out of this ordinance will be that many women are going to pushed back under parental and community control. There will arise an issue to interfaith marriages as it will lead to control of women and girls under the name of protecting them from forced conventions through marriages. So, this will lead to inequality towards women.

Conclusion

The ordinance passed by UP government regarding unlawful religious conversions have not yet give a clear idea about what it is really wanted to do. Even though the government said that marriage is just one of the things mentioned under the law and does not specifically direct at interfaith marriages. Still, the provisions under the law can cause hinder to interfaith marriages and accused them guilty of forceful religious conversions in the name of marriages.

First, it is not the business of matter of the state to interfere in the right of their citizens to choose their own partners. So, the law can be clearly be misused in the hands of authorities and can cause harm to persons who have not done anything wrong. Even though it will help in prevention of men and women from becoming victims for forceful religious transformations, yet it has a high risk of misusing of the law against certain religious community. It can lead to conflict between two communities if it has not implemented properly.

FAQs

Is UP’s New Anti-Conversion Law Constitutionally Valid?

Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance,2020, is considered as morally and constitutionally invalid by several. The ordinance gives the state policing powers over a citizen’s choice of life partner or religion and thus militated against the fundamental rights to individual autonomy, privacy, human dignity, and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution (right to life and personal liberty). Through the anti-conversion ordinance, now the government can easily control over the life of citizens as every religious conversion now requires to be certified by government. There are also allegations regarding this ordinance that it is passed to hinder interfaith marriages specifically. But it is said by the government that it does not hinder interfaith marriages as it is passed to prevent forceful and unfair conversions.

What Are The Procedures Under The New Anti-Conversion Law?

The ordinance lays down a procedure to ensure that any conversion from one religion to another is only done with free consent. As per the ordinance, now whoever desires to convert is required to give declarations to the District Magistrate at least 60 days before and within 60 days after the conversion. Not only this, but the person who is converting(converter) needs to give a notice of 30 days prior to the conversion.  Also, the authorities are required to conduct a routine enquiry regarding the cause of such conversion. These procedures are somewhat help in prevention of forceful conversions. However, this does not apply to the Special Marriage Act. People of different faith who wish to marry each other can still follow due procedure under the Special Marriage Act.

Do You Think This Law Will Succeed In Stopping Forceful Religious Conversion?

To an extent this law may be beneficial to prevent forceful religious conversions if it is implemented properly. The UP government had said that it was enacted to tackle forceful conversion.  The law makes conversion non-bailable with up to 10 years of jail time if undertaken lawfully and requires that religious conversions for marriage in Uttar Pradesh to be approved by a district magistrate. Even though there were no mentioning of love jihad in the law there were allegations and claims by media and opposing political party members that this law was passed to prevent ‘Love Jihad’.

References

www.wikipedia.com

www.legalservicesindia.com

www.thehindustantimes.com

www.lawsisto.com

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