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Critics say the law is backward and offensive
Police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh arrested a Muslim for allegedly trying to get a Hindu woman to convert to Islam.
The man is the first to be arrested under a new law to combat the change in religious affiliation, targeting the “jihad of love,” a term used by Hindu militant groups to accuse Muslim men of trying to make Hindu women seize. convert to Islam through marriage.
The law sparked a wave of outrage, and critics described it as anti-Islamic.
At least four other Indian states are drafting laws against “love jihad.”
The Bareli district police in Uttar Pradesh state confirmed on Twitter the news of the man’s arrest on Wednesday.
The woman’s father told the BBC that he had filed a complaint because the man “pressured” his daughter to convert and threatened her if she did not.
The woman was allegedly in a relationship with the man, but she married someone else earlier in the year.
Police told the BBC that the woman’s family had filed a kidnapping case against the defendant a year ago, but the case was closed after she was found and the charge was denied.
After his arrest on Wednesday, it was decided that the man would be detained for 14 days. The man told reporters that he was innocent and “had no connection to the woman.”
Under the new law, the punishment is up to 10 years in prison and suspects cannot be released on bail.
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Protests against the law of “love jihad”
What is the law of the “jihad of love”?
In November, Uttar Pradesh became the first state to pass a law against “forced” or “fraudulent change of religious affiliation.”
But it may not be the last, as at least four other states – Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Assam – have said they plan to enact laws against “the jihad of love.”
All five states are governed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accused of normalizing anti-Muslim sentiment.
Critics described the law as backward and insulting, with many expressing concern that such laws lead to abuse and harassment because “jihad of love” was always seen as a term used by far-right Hindu groups.
Indian law does not officially recognize this term.
But it eclipsed media coverage in recent months. In October, a popular jewelry brand withdrew an ad featuring a pair of different religions, after a right-wing backlash accused the ad of promoting the “jihad of love.”
In November, authorities charged Netflix with the same, referring to a scene from an Indian television series in which a Hindu woman and a Muslim kiss, and in the background is a Hindu temple. Madhya Pradesh Interior Minister Narotam Mishra said this harms “religious sentiments”, and ordered officials to discuss legal measures against the series’ producer and director.
Critics of the BJP say religious polarization has increased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.
Hindu-Muslim marriages have long been criticized in India, but their association with sinister motives is a recent phenomenon.
