MP govt to bring bill against 'love jihad' in next Assembly session, says Narottam Mishra

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday said that the state government will bring a bill against 'love jihad' in the next Assembly session that will have the provision of five years of rigorous imprisonment.

"One word ' Love Jihad' is doing rounds. We are making preparations to introduce the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2020 in Assembly. It will have provision for five years of rigorous imprisonment against those involved in forceful religious conversion and marriage by lure or fraud," Mishra told reporters here.

"We are also proposing that such crimes be declared a cognisable and non-bailable offence. There will be provision to declare marriages taking place forcefully, out of fraud or by tempting someone, for religious conversion, null and void," he said.

The Home Minister further asserted that the religious leader who is converting the person will have to inform District Magistrate one month in advance.

"Under this, the person who has been converted, their parents/siblings will have to mandatorily file a complaint for action. Religious leader who is converting the person will have to inform District Magistrate one month in advance. We will introduce this Bill in the next session," he said.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that his government will bring a strict law to curb "love jihad" and forcible religious conversion, citing an Allahabad High Court order.

Responding to a query in Lok Sabha in February this year, the Union Home Ministry had clarified the term 'love jihad' is not defined under the existing laws and no such case has been reported so far.

(ANI)

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