The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 (), referred to as the Love Jihad law by most of the media, is an anti-conversion law enacted by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, India. The Uttar Pradesh state cabinet cleared the ordinance on 24 November 2020 following which it was approved and signed by state Governor Anandiben Patel on 28 November 2020.
The law makes conversion non-bailable with up to 10 years of jail time if undertaken through misinformation, unlawfully, forcefully, allurement or other allegedly fraudulent means. The law also requires that religious conversions for marriage in Uttar Pradesh has to be approved by a district magistrate. The law also encompasses strict action for mass conversion, including cancellation of registration of social organisation involve in mass religious conversion.
The ordinance was passed amid media publicity and heated debate over love jihad. However, the law itself contains no mention of love jihad. The ordinance was passed days after the Yogi Adityanath government launched 'Mission Shakti', a campaign for the safety and security of women in the state.
Background
Prior to India's independence, during the British Raj, Hindu princely states including Kota, Patna, Surguja, Udaipur, and Kalahandi passed laws restricting religious conversions "in an attempt to preserve Hindu religious identity against Muslims."
Prior conversion legislation
Prior legislation passed in India to check conversion include:
Before Independence
Raigarh State Conversion Act, 1936
Surguja State Apostasy Act, 1942
Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act, 1946
After Independence
Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967
Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968
Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978
Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003
Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2006
Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018
Laws prohibiting conversion have been passed under various governments — Swatantra Party government in Odisha in 1968 ; Congress Party government in Himachal Pradesh in 2006. The 2020 UP ordinance contains similar grounds as what was mentioned in these laws.
Jurisprudence from High Courts across the country have said that conversion is not a casual matter. In 2014, the Allahabad High Court stated in a judgement that if conversion "is resorted to merely with the object of creating a ground for some claim of right" it would be "a fraud upon the law". The Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh at the time took a similar stand. In the case of Lily Thomas vs Union of India in 2000 the Supreme Court nulled the marriage on the basis that if someone "feigns to have adopted another religion just for some worldly gain or benefit" it was "religious bigotry".
According to human rights bodies such as International Christian Concern and United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) "no individual has been convicted of forced conversions in India" and the "laws have resulted in few arrests".
Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019 draft
In 2019, the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission under Justice Aditya Nath Mittal had compiled a report on unlawful religious conversion and proposed a draft Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019. The long title of the draft bill stated: "to provide freedom of religion by prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto." The commission stated that the Indian Penal Code is "not sufficient" to prevent conversions.
Usage of the term love jihad
On 31 October, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that a law to curb 'Love Jihad' would be passed by his government. At the same gathering in Jaunpur, the Chief Minister publicly warned and gave a death threat to those who 'play with the honour of our sisters and daughters' — "If you will not mend ways then your 'Ram Naam Satya' journey will begin". Following the publication of the draft and assent of the bill, some commentators distanced themselves from attaching the phrase "love jihad" to the bill. While some media reported that the law was related to "love jihad", even calling the ordinance the 'love jihad law' and 'love jihad ordinance'; the law itself contains no mention of love jihad. Days before the ordinance, on 17 October, the Yogi Adityanath government launched 'Mission Shakti', a six-month campaign for the safety and security of women in the state.