Chennai: In a warning issued against ‘love jihad’, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday, said that those indulging in the same, would be ‘destroyed’.
According to sources, Chauhan said, “The government belongs to everyone, all religions and castes. There is no discrimination but if someone tries to do anything disgusting with our daughters, then I’ll break you. If someone plots religious conversion or does anything like ‘love jihad’, you will be destroyed”.
It may be noted that the CM’s comments comes days after his government doubled the jail term for forced religious conversions for marriage from five years to 10 years in its draft bill against ‘love jihad’.
The State’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra had also announced that the draft of the ‘anti-Love Jihad law’, the Dharma Swatantraya Bill 2020, is ready and after being cleared by the cabinet, it will be introduced in the next session of Vidhan Sabha slated from 28 December.
He informed that as per the draft of the new Religious Freedom Bill, anyone who is convicted for religious conversion through forcible or fraudulent marriage will be punished with up to 10 years in jail, while the religious guru/cleric involved in solemnisation of such a marriage could face up to five years in jail.
For voluntary conversion for marriage, it will be mandatory to apply to the Collector a month in advance, the minister said. The guardians can complain in such cases and anyone facilitating such marriages will be considered an accused and be penalised, the minister said. For institutions which organise such an activity, their registration will be cancelled.
Madhya Pradesh’s strong stand against ‘love jihad’ comes after the Uttar Pradesh cabinet cleared an ordinance in this regard. The ordinance provides for a jail term of 1-5 years with a penalty of Rs 15,000 for forceful religious conversion. For converting minors and women of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes community, the punishment goes up to 10 years in jail.