Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on Saturday promulgated the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020, news agency ANI reported.

The law requires religious conversions for marriage in Uttar Pradesh to be approved by a district magistrate and includes a 10-year jail term if undertaken unlawfully.

Also Read | UP’s love jihad Ordinance creates doubts about its intended purpose

The Yogi Adityanath government had, on November 24, passed the ordinance, which declared inter-faith marriages by inducement with the intention of converting Hindu and Dalit women to Islam and Christianity a criminal offence.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has doubled down on the rising number of ‘love jihad’ cases, with a number of BJP states planning to promulgate ordinances to outlaw religious conversions for marriage. 

Also Read | ‘Love very personal, doesn’t go hand-in-hand with jihad,’ says TMC MP Nusrat Jahan

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had earlier said that the state government will soon enact a law to counter ‘love jihad’. 

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also expressed similar views, saying his government is will enact laws to ensure the “guilty cannot escape”. 

Meanwhile, opposition leaders, like Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, TMC MP Nusrat Jahan and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, have attacked the BJP over what it calls is the latest attempt to divert attention from more pressing concerns.