Maharashtra: Hindu Janajagruti Samiti demands law against love jihad, religious conversion

Mumbai: On the eve of the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature, several Right-wing organisations led by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) on Sunday demanded that the BJP-led Maha Yuti government enact laws against love-jihad and illegal religious conversion.

“It is expected that Maharashtra will enact a law similar to those in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh. Maharashtra is the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, where women are traditionally regarded with the highest respect,” said Sunil Ghanwat, HJS’ State Organizer for Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

“A historic decision should be taken in this session to make Maharashtra “love jihad-free” and ‘conversion-free” this is our earnest expectation,” he said in the run up to the budget sitting of the legislature which commences on Monday.

“Over the past two years, Hindu organisations across Maharashtra have taken out public protest marches demanding legislation against the serious issues of love jihad and illegal religious conversions.” At that time, the government acknowledged the seriousness of the matter and assured that a stringent law against love jihad would be enacted. However, unfortunately, such incidents have not stopped; rather, their intensity and brutality are reportedly increasing,” Ghanwat said.

“The time has now come for the government to fulfill its promise,” HJS urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home and Law & Judiciary portfolios.

Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has demanded that the Maharashtra Government immediately pass, in the upcoming legislative session, a stringent and non-bailable "Anti Love Jihad” and “Anti-Illegal Conversion’ law/s providing for life imprisonment for offenders, on the lines of laws enacted in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

According to Ghanwat, over the past two years through local district and taluka administrations and public representatives at more than 75 locations across the State, "a large numbers of women and Hindu activists participated in submitting these memorandums in districts including Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Beed, Dharashiv, Buldhana, Akola, Yavatmal, Amravati, Washim, Chandrapur, Nagpur and others,” he said.

As per the report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a special drive should be undertaken to trace over 178,000 missing women and girls from Maharashtra, and cases related to ‘love jihad’ should be recorded separately. Considering the seriousness of the issue, a special ‘Anti-Love Jihad Task Force’ under the leadership of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) should be established in every district, and fast-track courts should be set up to ensure that such cases are resolved within six months.

Additionally, it has been demanded that anyone intending to undergo religious conversion or enter into an interfaith marriage must submit an application to the District Collector at least 60 days in advance, followed by mandatory police verification.