The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday approved the anti-conversion Bill to prevent forceful conversions for inter-faith marriages.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said, under the MP Freedom of Religion Bill 2020, forcing religious conversion will lead to one to five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000.
He also stated that forced conversion of a minor, woman, or a person from Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, would draw a minimum jail term of two to 10 years with a minimum penalty of Rs 50,000.
The Bill was cleared in a special meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ahead of a three-day session of the Assembly, beginning on December 28.
Last month, the Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh also passed a similar law aimed at tackling “love jihad”, a conspiracy theory espoused by right-wing Hindutva activists, alleging that Hindu women are forcibly converted by Muslims through marriage.
BJP governments in some other states have also decided to introduce laws aimed at preventing inter-faith marriage. The Haryana government has formed a three-member drafting committee to frame a law on the matter. Karnataka and Assam governments have made similar announcements.
