Updated: November 17, 2020 8:07:51 pm
The right to marry a person of your choice is guaranteed by article 21 (Representative image).
Madhya Pradesh Interior Minister Narottam Mishra said Tuesday that the “love jihad” bill will be tabled in the state assembly soon and includes five years of rigorous imprisonment for violators. The charge will be recognizable and without bail, Mishra told reporters.
“There will be a provision to declare null and void marriages that take place by force, by fraud or by tempting someone, for religious conversion. Those who help to commit this crime will also be considered part of the crime, ”said Mishra.
Other provisions of the bill include notifying the district collector one month in advance before entering into an interfaith marriage.
The chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had previously hinted at introducing new legislation against the “jihad of love,” a term coined by right-wing groups that oppose interreligious marriage. However, the right to marry a person of your choice is guaranteed by article 21 of the Constitution.
“Jihad in the name of love will not be allowed at any cost in the state. The necessary legal provisions will be made against love jihad ”, he had said.
The BJP governments in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are also contemplating legal provisions against “love jihad.”
The problem revived after a 21-year-old student was shot to death outside his college in the Ballabgarh city of Haryana. The girl’s family alleged that the defendant had been pressuring her to convert and marry him.
Earlier this year, the Government informed Parliament that none of the central agencies and the Government had reported cases of ‘love jihad’. the term is not defined under any existing law. The Minister of State of the Union for the Home, G Kishan Reddy, said that article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morals and health. Several courts, including the Kerala High Court, have supported this view.
“The term ‘love jihad’ is not defined by current laws. None of the central agencies have reported such a case of ‘love jihad’, “he said in response to a written question.
However, the minister said that the National Investigative Agency (NIA) has investigated two cases from Kerala related to interfaith marriage.
The NIA was asked to investigate whether a Kerala woman, Hadiya, was forcibly converted by her husband before marriage. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down a court order that annulled the marriage between Hadiya and her husband Shefin Jahan.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
.
