The practice of Muslim men targeting women hailing from non-Muslim communities to force them to convert to Islam on the pretext of marriage became the much-talked-about issue in 2009 in India.The practice dubbed as Love Jihad became more popular in the country since the saffron party BJP made it to power in 2014. The party has been shedding light on the practice and battling to do away with the practice.
Some of the BJP-ruled states in the country took a step ahead and brought laws to stop the illegal conversion of Hindu girls into Islam. Now, one more state has passed the bill to stop illegal conversions.The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet met under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has passed the Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 by a voice vote which aims at tackling the forced conversions.
The Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 will be tabled in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly session, which will be held in a few days.Once, the bill gets into law, a person who is found guilty of forcing someone to covert will be awarded jail imprisonment of 1-5 years and a minimum fine of Rs 25,000.
If someone converts, an underaged Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe person, they will have to serve jail imprisonment of 2-10 years along with a maximum penalty of 1 lakh.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath brought a new law against the illegal conversion of Hindu women. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Ordinance, 2020 came into effect on the 28th of November.