The Uttar Pradesh Government’s ordinance prohibiting marriage between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman violates the right to love. It is yet another attempt by the BJP to needle the Muslim minority in this country. Former Supreme Court (SC) Judge, Madan Lohkur says the UP ‘love jihad’ law puts freedom of choice ‘on the backseat.’ He questioned as to what would happen to earlier SC judgments that have ruled that states have no jurisdiction over an adult’s absolute right to choose a life partner.
Now four other BJP-ruled states are framing their own laws on ‘Love jihad’ with more stringent punishment. Noted activist Sayeeda Hameed observed that this law will break the composite culture of the country. The Love-Jihad ordinance was promulgated by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on November 28, days after it was passed by the Adityanath-led state Cabinet. It is no surprise that hours later, the police registered their first case against a Muslim man in UP’s Bareilly district.
A plea challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s ordinance that criminalises religious conversion via marriage was filed before the Supreme Court on December 4, by three lawyers who said the ordinance was against public policy and fundamental rights of the people. The petitioners contended that the ordinance will be misused to falsely implicate people and will lead to chaos and fear. Their observation is that this ordinance can become a potent tool in the hands of unruly elements of society to falsely implicate anyone and there are probabilities of falsely implicating persons who are not involved in any such acts contemplated under the ordinance and it will result in grave injustice. The petitioners also questioned the validity of a similar law passed by the Uttarakhand government in 2018.
‘Love jihad’is a conspiracy theory used by right-wing groups who accuse Muslim men of using marriage as a lure to force Hindu women to convert to Islam. The Central Government had stated in the Lok Sabha that no “case of ‘love jihad’ has been reported by any of the central agencies”. Investigations by the National Investigation Agency, the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department, the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team and others have turned up no evidence for this alleged conspiracy. The National Commission for Women also maintains no data about “love jihad.”
The Love jihad legislation is a master plan to criminalize inter-faith marriages, especially that between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man and is unlikely to be tamely taken by the youth of this country. Marriage between two consenting adults cannot be the brief of the state or subject to enquiry by police.