The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has passed a contentious bill that penalises religious conversion through marriage and provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
The BJP-ruled state government says the bill was introduced to curb the spread of ‘Love Jihad’, a hate theory and false propaganda run by extremist Hindutva forces claiming that Muslim men lure non-Muslim girls, and trick them into marriage and force them to accept Islam. The term ‘Love Jihad’ has not been defined under any existing law.
Also read: ‘Love Jihad’: An Imaginary Scarecrow To Dissuade Hindu Women From Marrying Muslim Men
After the “Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2021” was passed by a voice vote, some BJP MLAs chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram‘.
The present act provides for the annulment of marriage and a harsher sentence. It also provides for a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
It replaced an ordinance promulgated by the BJP government on January 9. A similar law has been enforced in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
The ordinance barred religious conversion by “misrepresentation, allurement, use of threat of force, undue influence, coercion, marriage or by any other fraudulent means”.
The opposition Congress opposed the bill arguing that it runs against the right to religion guaranteed by the constitution under Article 25, 27, 28.
“Already there are laws for every crime. Everyone is free to choose his faith at his will as our Constitution guarantees it. But this new law has no other aim but to target minorities and those who enacted it want to win praises from their political masters,” Vinay Saxena, a Congress MLA from Jabalpur was quoted in News Click as having said during the debate.
Congress leader Dr. Govind Singh slammed Narottam Mishra, the state home minister, for proposing the bill just to win praises in Home Minister Amit Shah’s “court”. He said the bill was on the lines of BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments.
Saxena called the bill “unnecessary” and alleged that the government was shifting focus from issues like unemployment and crimes against women. He said the number of conversions is few compared to “nearly 10,000 cases of crime against women; 5,200 kidnapped girls were rescued in a year” and asked why was the government not bringing a bill to curb violence against women.
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