MP CM Shivraj Chouhan defends BJP's anti-Love Jihad law promise in Assam; Owaisi hits back

On Thursday, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a staunch defence of BJP's promise to enact a law outlawing 'Love Jihad' in Assam post the Assembly election. Maintaining that BJP is only against 'Jihad', Chouhan asserted that one should not love by betraying, deceiving or changing names. It is pertinent to note that BJP-ruled governments in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have already passed similar laws.

However, AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi took umbrage at the MP CM's remarks stressing that 'jihad' has been added to love simply to demonise Muslims. Highlighting that coercive and fraudulent marriage is already a crime under the Indian Penal Code, he questioned the insecurity of RSS about people marrying or choosing their own faith. Objecting to the provisions of the anti- Love Jihad laws enacted so far, he opined that a citizen should not require the government's permission for choosing a new faith. 

Writing on Twitter, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi added, "The law is also not restricted to just marriage but covers all conversions. Why should an individual citizen seek UNCLE sarkar's permission before choosing to worship or not worship a god? They don't stop being humans or Indian citizens just because they changed their faith."

BJP's move to outlaw 'Love Jihad' 

As per some organizations, 'Love Jihad' refers to inter-religious marriages where the woman converts to Islam either by force or guile in order to marry a Muslim man. In 2010, the then Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan had accused PFI and some other organizations of planning to turn the state into a Muslim-majority state by doling out money. In 2020, G Kishan Reddy told the Parliament that 'Love Jihad' is not defined under the current laws and that no such case has been reported by any of the Central agencies. 

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV on November 25, 2020, NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma revealed that that the Assam government had received several complaints where a boy hides his real identity and religion to lure girls into marriage. Observing that marriage is a voluntary engagement between two individuals, the BJP leader made it clear that there should be no element of cheating involved. Weighing in on the contours of the proposed Love Jihad bill, Sarma stated that it will ensure that no person can provide a false identity to get married. 

The Assam Health Minister elaborated, "Marriage is considered one of the holiest acts. It should happen in circumstances where there is no fraud and no cheating. The law will ensure that nobody can provide false identity, false religion and basically, you cannot hide your religious identity to get married even in social media or otherwise. We have drafted a law. We have seen the laws enacted in other states also. But as I told you, we are going into elections now. So, we don't want to push it otherwise people will say that this is an electoral agenda. But, as and when we come back, definitely we are going to enact it."