Avinash Kumar Yadav, a third-year student at National Law University, Delhi, India, discusses the recent "Love Jihad" law in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India and the effect it has on the fundamental right to marry...
The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 (“the Ordinance”) popularly known as the law on ‘Love Jihad’, was approved by the state cabinet on 24 November 2020 and received the assent of the Governor of Uttar Pradesh (“UP”) on 28 November 2020 making it enforceable. Section 3 of the ordinance states that no person shall convert or attempt to convert directly or otherwise any person from one religion to another by use or any practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage, nor should any person abet convince or conspire such conversion. The law makes religious conversion a cognizable and non-bailable offence, which might attract punishment of up to 10 years in prison along with fine. Such similar anti-conversion laws can be found in 8 more Indian states. More than 35 arrests have been made so far under this law majority of which were alleged to be consensual.