Uttar Pradesh cabinet passes ordinance to check unlawful religious conversions: 10 years of jail for marriages with sole intention of changing girl’s religion

The Yogi government’s new law to curb unlawful religious conversions for the sake of marriages between two communities, which could land violators in jail for up to 10 years.

The UP government has said that this law aims to prohibit religious conversion done using dishonest means like false representation, through force, influence, torture, allurement or for the sake of marriage.

“Those getting the conversion done in violation of the provisions of the proposed law would have to face a jail term of up to 10 years,” said a government statement. If it is found that the conversion is done “forcibly, through atrocity or cheating”, the offence will be non-bailable.

According to the “Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudh Dharma Samparivartan Pratishedh Adyadesh 2020” (prohibition of unlawful religious conversion), a marriage will be declared “shunya” (null and void) if the “sole intention” was to “change a girl’s religion”.

“The Cabinet has taken a big decision… it was necessary for maintaining normal law and order in the state and to ensure justice for women, especially those from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,” said Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Sidharth Nath Singh.

“More than 100 cases of forcible conversions have come to light. The way in which religious conversions are done using deceit, lies, force and dishonesty is heart-wrenching, and it was necessary to have a law in this regard,” he added.

“If someone wants to convert their religion after marriage, an application will have to be submitted to the district magistrate two months in advance. The conversion can take place if permission is granted,” he further added.

“We saw that the religious conversions were part of ‘love jihad’ conspiracy. There is a big conspiracy behind these conversions which was unravelled by our security agencies,” said UP Minister Mohsin Raza said.

In the case of mass conversions, the punishment is from three years to 10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000 on the organisations which indulge in it. If anyone wants to change their religion after marriage, they can do so. But the district magistrate has to be informed two months in advance on a prescribed form, and the person can convert once the permission is granted.