India: New law targets interfaith couples
India: New law targets interfaith couples
14th Dec 2020
By Shuriah Niazi
NEW DELHI (AA): Haidar Mansuri, 34, and 28-year-old Shabila Chand [both Muslim] in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh decided to get married after a year-long courtship.
Shabila left her home in Azamgarh to marry Kushinagar resident Haidar.
As they were about to get married on Dec. 8, someone informed the police and members of right-wing Hindu groups Bajrang Dal and Hindu Vahini, and they reached the spot. They alleged that the boy was a Muslim and girl a Hindu, which they claimed was a case of “love jihad”, a term used by right-wing groups alleging Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by pretending that they love them.