The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to introduce an ordinance against unlawful religious conversions, State Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said on Tuesday.
The Yogi Adityanath-led government approved the draft of a stringent law to deal with the religious conversions, which some BJP leaders refer to as “love jihad.”
The state cabinet cleared the proposed law against religious conversion for the sake of marriage, the official spokesperson said, reported PTI.
The spokesperson said the approval for the ordinance was given at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Singh said that the ordinance provides for a jail term of 1-5 years with Rs 15,000 penalty for forceful religious conversion. For conversions of minors & women of SC/ST community, there will be a jail term of 3-10 years with Rs 25,000 penalty, he added.
“In cases of forced mass conversions, the ordinance provides for jail term of 3-10 years with Rs 50,000 penalty. If a person wants to perform marriage after converting into any other religion, they will need to take permission from DM 2 months before marriage,” Singh said.
