The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the controversial ‘love jihad’ ordinance, with the Anti-religious Conversion Bill, 2020, adopted by the state government.
According to government sources, it is now likely to be tabled in the upcoming winter session of the UP assembly.
The legislation is called ‘Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Bill’.
Though the term ‘love jihad’ has not been used in the legislation, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders and saffron groups have extensively used the term ‘love jihad’ to target Muslims, falsely accusing Muslim men of engaging in a mass conspiracy to turn Hindu women away from their religion by loving them.
Earlier, during a rally in Jaunpur, an alert for love jihad was given by Yogi Adityanath. He said, “I warn those who conceal identity and play with our sisters’ respect. If you don’t mend your ways your ‘Ram naam satya’ (chant related with Hindu funerals) journey will begin.”
Yesterday, in a big blow to Yogi Adityanath government’s proposed law against love jihad Allahabad High Court held that the judgement which held ‘Religious conversion just for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable’ is not good law.
“Right to live with a person of his/her choice irrespective of religion professed by them, is intrinsic to right to life and personal liberty,” court said.
Court further observed: “We fail to understand that if the law permits two persons even of the same sex to live together peacefully then neither any individual nor a family nor even State can have objection to relationship of two major individuals who out of their own free will are living together.”
A Division Bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal and Pankaj Naqvi held that the judgements in Noor Jahan and Priyanshi as not laying good law.
The division bench strikes down single judge orders that held conversion for marriage was illegal.
