Proposal for a law aimed at empowering women, not aimed at ‘loving jihad’: Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (archive)
Guwahati:
Assam is planning a law that will require the bride and groom to declare their religion and income on official documents one month before the wedding. In the context of many other BJP-ruled states enacting laws to control “love jihad,” the Assam government says its goal is “to empower our sisters.”
The ruling BJP’s decision comes ahead of elections in Assam next year, which the party is confident of winning. State Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government’s law was not quite like those of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, but that it would be similar.
“Assam’s law is not against ‘love jihad’. It would include all religions and empower our sisters by providing transparency … One will have to disclose not only religion, but also source of income. Full details of family, education, etc. Many times, even in the marriage of the same religion, we have discovered that the girl later discovers that the husband is in an illegal business, ”said Sarma.
The proposed law will require men and women to disclose their source of income, profession, permanent address and religion in a government-prescribed form one month before the wedding, otherwise legal action would be taken, the minister said.
“Our law will empower women. It will have some elements of the law in UP and MP,” said Sarma.
“Love jihad” is a pejorative used by right-wing groups to target relations between Muslim men and Hindu women, which they say is part of a broader design to convert women by force.
It is a term not officially recognized by the central government. In February this year, the Interior Ministry had told parliament that: “Love Jihad is not defined in the law” and central agencies had not reported such a case.
But several BJP-ruled states, including Haryana, Karnataka and even Bihar, have been talking about introducing a law to curb “love jihad.” UP Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath cited an order from the Allahabad High Court to issue a thinly veiled threat to “those who … play with the respect of our sisters.”
However, weeks later, the same court said that “two adults are free to choose their partner”, and that the previous sentence that said that “conversion for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable”, “is not a good law” .
Last week, Uttar Pradesh became the first state to pass an ordinance to control forced religious conversions with a jail time of up to 10 years. Days later, the Madhya Pradesh government also drafted a bill to punish “love jihad.”
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