Mr. Amit Prakash

There is no mention of ‘Love Jihad’ in the law, says Mr. Amit Prakash

• If we go by the Uttar Pradesh enactment, the law is named as Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance 2020. The law came into force after getting its assent from the governor on November 24.
• Some sections of the country are interpreting this as the law relating to love Jihad but the lawyers are seeing this as a law that will put some additional compliances over the conversions happening in the society. The law applies equally to all religions.
• Any conversion by way of allurement, coercion, undue influence, or misrepresentation is a nonbailable offence under this law.
• The fight around this ordinance is because of the misuse of the law by the state machinery on the directions of some people who want to cause political unrest in the society.

Kamaluddin Raza

This law is causing disharmony in the communities, says Kamaluddin Raza

• Hindu-Muslim marriages are taking place in society for centuries and by bringing this ordinance the government is causing disharmony between the two communities.
• The government is promoting mobocracy by such kind of laws and diverting the youth from the real issues like employment, farmers protest, poor education infrastructure, and falling GDP.
• Instead of bringing unnecessary ordinances, the government should focus on making stricter laws against crimes such as rapes.
• The love jihad law violates Article 21 of the constitution which states that any adult man or woman can marry anyone by their own will and others do not have any right to interfere in their personal decisions.

Aditya Arajit Mohapatra

The law is just a preventive measure for a safe future, says Aditya Arajit Mohapatra

• Love Jihad means a forceful conversion of one into another religion. The issue first surfaced in India in 2009 in Kerala and from then on many cases of love jihad have been reported across the nation.
• In 2014 when cases of love jihad were reported in Uttar Pradesh the government formed a team to investigate the matter and found that there are no such organizations that are working for religious conversions.
• Although the fact the government is trying to divert the public from real issues is true but we also cannot deny the fact that many cases of love jihad are being reported across the nation.
• By bringing this law the government is preventing such more cases in the future and we should have no problem with this law as it is for our facility.

Manish Kumar Jha

This law makes the religious conversion a more cumbersome process, says Manish Kumar Jha

• A number of cases have emerged where the law has been misused by the government authorities on the ground level and people have been arrested on the charge of false cases.
• This law states marriage based conversion is illegal and makes the process of conversion from one religion to another a more cumbersome process. Also, there are no such specified provisions stating that only the close relatives can raise their objections.
• Ground reality is that communal forces like Hindu Vahini and Bajrang Dal are roaming around Muslim men and women’s houses who are causing conversion and lodging complaint against them in the police station and the police is also backing them.
• There is another side of the story as well. Many cases emerge where people are converted fraudulently. If the law is used in the right manner it can keep a check on it.

Vikas Singh Bungla

We should not call this a love jihad law as it has no relation to it, says Vikas Singh Bungla

• Article 25 in the Indian constitution grants to citizens of India of all religious persuasions the freedom to profess, practice, or propagate their faith in a way that does not disrupt public order and does not affect public health and morality adversely.
• This law originated from the universal declaration of human rights which is an international document adopted by the UN General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings that have been created long back in 1948.
• Such law runs at risk of being abused by the communal forces.
• We should make sure that no religious community comes at a disadvantage due to this law as it can indirectly hamper the number of followers of one religious group.

Nikunj Batra

There are also some drawbacks in the law on which the government should focus, says Nikunj Batra

• A great number of cases are reported every year where Hindu and Sikh women are forcefully converted to Islam by Muslim men feigning love.
• We should not blame the whole community because of the propaganda spread by some Muslim men.
• There have been several occasions when some Muslim Maulanas have given provocative speeches to promote love jihad.
• Like we should make sure that law is not misused and exploitation of innocent people doesn’t take place.

Kartik Keshari

This law is established to grant religious freedom to the citizens of India, says Kartik Keshari

• The law is not communal as termed by some sections of the society. It is formed to keep a check on the religious freedom of the citizens of India and ensure that no one is forced to adopt any religion without their will.
• Earlier also many externally funded groups in India were actively converting people into their religion by various means. These kinds of activities weaken the country at its root level.
• Laws like this have been introduced in the past as well. For example, the Rajgarh State Conversion Act in 1936, Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act in 1946 to stop Britishers from exploiting the religious freedom of the people.
• The law is formed with good intention but we should also make sure that the law is not misused by the communal forces for their benefit.

Amreesh Singh

Forcefully converting someone violates Article 19 and Article 21 of the constitution, says Amreesh Singh

• In Uttar Pradesh many cases have been reported whereupon marrying Hindu women Muslim men tried to forcefully convert them into their religion without their consent.
• By propagating love jihad Muslim men violate women’s rights. To prevent this Special Marriage Act was formed which states that women should only convert on their own will.
• In most of the love jihad cases Muslim men misrepresent themselves as Hindu men and marry Hindu women by acting as their lovers and later forcefully convert them into their religion. This law will keep a check on this.
• This law will also empower women and grant them independence.