Rajnath Singh said that he personally does not support conversion for marriage.
Union Minister Rajnath Singh has said that he personally does not support conversion for marriage and has questioned why it should be required. The minister, a parliamentarian from Lucknow, was questioned about the alleged misuse of the anti-conversion law enacted by the Uttar Pradesh government. Uttar Pradesh is one of several BJP-ruled states that have enacted new laws to stop forced religious conversions and what the right wing calls “love jihad,” which has generated much controversy.
“I want to ask why there should be a conversion. The practice of mass conversions should stop,” Singh told ANI in an exclusive interview.
“As far as I know, in the Muslim religion, one cannot marry someone of another religion. I personally do not approve of conversion for marriage,” he added.
The minister said that there is a difference between “natural marriage” and forced religious conversion for marriage.
“In many cases, you may have seen that religious conversion is done by force and sometimes it is done out of greed. Natural marriage and forced conversion to marriage have a big difference and I think the governments that made these laws have considered all of these things, “Mr. Singh said.
The Uttar Pradesh Illegal Conversion of Religion Prohibition Ordinance, 2020, prohibits any conversion by “misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, seduction or by any fraudulent means or by marriage.”
The law also significantly says that marriages that are performed “for the sole purpose of illegal conversion or vice versa” would not be allowed.
Four former judges have criticized the law, calling it unconstitutional. One of the judges called “jihad love” a “creation of religious extremists for the purpose of dividing people.”
Former Delhi High Court judge and former chairman of the National Law Commission, Judge AP Shah, told NDTV that various provisions of the new law violate the fundamental right to practice religion, “attacking the very root of the right to life and liberty guaranteed under the constitution. “
This ordinance, he said, was “capable of causing great public harm.”
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has targeted the BJP for laws against forced conversions, including those for the sake of marriage, claiming they violate fundamental rights granted by the Constitution.
Claiming that the laws violate articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution related to the right to equality, the right to life and personal liberty and the right to freedom of religion, he said the BJP is “creating an atmosphere hate for the Muslim community. “
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