Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said that the state government will very soon bring a law against 'Love Jihad'. In his tweet, he wrote, "We are bringing law to curb forced religious conversions that take place in garb of love." Last week, the chief minister tabled a key cabinet meeting over law against inter-faith marriages and Unlawful Conversion bill.
Madhya Pradesh government, earlier, said that it will introduce Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 in the next session of the state Assembly in view of the rising incidents of love jihad. State Home minister Narottam Mishra said that the proposed bill has a provision of a rigorous imprisonment for the period of five years for luring a person through fraud and forcing marriage by religious conversion.
Earlier, Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government passed a bill against 'Love Jihad' which has provisions that can land offenders in jail for upto five years. The law against forced religious conversions was approved days after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued a warning.
Apart from the jail term, the ordinance also has provision of Rs 15,000 penalty for forceful religious conversion. For conversions of minors and women of SC/ST community, there will be a penalty of Rs 25,000 penalty and jail term.
