With the permission of the governor, the Uttar Pradesh Restriction of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 has been approved, the official said.
The cabinet headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath authorized a draft ordinance earlier this week to prevent unlawful or
“dishonest” religious conversions, as well as for marriage, that can result in prison for violations for up to 10 years.
Minister of State Siddharth Nath Singh has announced that a prison term of 1 to 5 years with a fine of Rs 15,000 for a forceful religious conversion has been levied.
For convert minors and women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a sentence of 3 to 10 years will be levied with a fine of Rs 25,000.
The ordinance has provisions for 3 to 10 years prison term and a Rs 50,000 fine if forced mass conversions occur without intimation.
According to this law if the conversion of religion of a woman is purely for marriage reason, and those who want
to change their religion after marriage have to apply to the district magistrate, otherwise that marriage would be declared as null and void.
BJP’s government states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have announced plans in recent weeks to implement legislation to counter suspected attempts to convert Hindu women to Islam in the form of marriage, also referred to as love jihad by party leaders.
