UP CM Yogi Adityanath approves draft ordinance to counter the menace of forced religious conversion
In an attempt to control the growing menace of forced religious conversions, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday (November 24) approved the draft ordinance dealing with forced religious conversions called ‘Vidhi Virudh Dharmantaran 2020’.
UP Cabinet decides to introduce an ordinance against unlawful religious conversions: State Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh pic.twitter.com/vUPO7SLyR7
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 24, 2020
The cabinet on Tuesday gave its consent to the proposed draft and once the bill becomes a law, it would prevent individuals from converting people to other faiths by enticing or threatening.
The move of the Uttar Pradesh government comes in the light of forced religious conversions through love jihad, where Hindu women are lured or threatened into marriage by Muslim men either openly or under the garb of a Hindu identity and later revealing their Muslim background.
The proposed ordinance contains a prison term of 5-10 years for those indulging in forced religious conversions. If the women is from the general category, the quantum of punishment will be five years and if the women happens to be a Dalit or minor, the quantum of punishment can go up to 10 years.
The ordinance provides for 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 jail term of 3-10 years with Rs 25,000 penalty: State Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh https://t.co/D6uTXIAHic
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 24, 2020
Justice Aditya Mittal, the Chairman of the Law Commission, said, “The term love jihad has not been used in the Bill, and conversions related to all religions will be covered under the new law. To be precise, it will not just be focused on Hindu-Muslim conversions or conversions for the specific purpose of marriage.”
Also, the Chairman of the Law Commission Mittal, added that under the prospective law, inter-religious marriages will be encouraged to go through the Special Marriage Act.
Under the Act, a consenting couple must reach out to the district magistrate’s court expressing a desire for marriage. After the request is made, the administration will issue a 30-day notice during which objections can be raised to such a proposed marriage.
If it is a case of forced conversion, through marriage, the person could face trial in the court.
Another important provision in this proposed new draft law is, family courts will have the power to adjudicate under the proposed law and an aggrieved person if is a he or she feels cheated can approach a family court and the court will have the power to nullify such a marriage.
Will Rajini take the plunge or not? What happened in the Shah-Gurumuthy meeting?
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Chennai on Saturday (November 21) to inaugurate various developmental projects and also to meet with the party’s Tamil Nadu unit office bearers ahead of the Assembly elections that is to happen in a few months.
During the government function held in Kalaivanar Arangam, Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam who is also the AIADMK’s coordinator declared in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah that the party’s alliance with the BJP will continue for the upcoming elections which was also endorsed by CM Palaniswami.
Amit Shah too mentioned that the Centre would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Edappadi K Palaniswami government in serving the people of Tamil Nadu.
After the government function, Amit Shah headed straight to Hotel Leela Palace and had a brief meeting with CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam and Sunil Kanugolu, AIADMK’s poll strategist. During the meeting, Amit Shah is said to have asked what plans the AIADMK has to win the elections and offered some inputs in going about it.
Later at 8 PM, at the state office bearers and district presidents meeting he is said to have given a rousing speech enthusing the cadres. He cited the case of how Assam where the party had less than 1% vote share became a state to be ruled by the BJP.
Post this, a core committee meeting comprising of 14 senior leaders of the party which includes BJP National General Secretary (Org) B.L. Santhosh, BJP TN President Dr. L. Murugan, party affairs in-charge of Tamil Nadu C.T. Ravi and Sudhakar Reddy, State Vice Presidents Vanathi Srinivasan, V.P. Duraiswamy, Karu Nagarajan and K. Annamalai, State General Secretary K.T. Raghavan, State Organizational Secretary Kesava Vinayagam, among others. During this meeting, strategies for the coming election is said to have been discussed with the state leaders being advised to strengthen the party at the booth level.
At around 11 PM, Editor of ‘Thuglak’ magazine Auditor S. Gurumurthy arrived at Leela Palace to meet Amit Shah. Gurumurthy and his son Srinivasan is also said to have been part of this core committee meeting. Later, Gurumurthy reportedly had a one-to-one meeting with Amit Shah during which he is said to have apprised about Rajinikanth’s political entry.
Gurumurthy has been one of the vocal advocates of Rajinikanth’s political entry and for long have been giving hopes to the people of Tamil Nadu and the BJP central leadership about the latter’s political plunge. It was expected that as and when Rajinikanth flouts his party, he would align with the BJP or the alliance in which the BJP is part of.
Though Rajinikanth declared in 2017 that he entering politics is assured, he is yet to officially launch his party and begin campaigning given that there are just a few months left for the elections.
Recently, a letter supposedly sent by Rajinikanth to cadres of the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) got circulated in social media in which it was stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had disturbed his political plans and that the doctors had advised him to take rest as he had undergone a kidney replacement surgery. Though Rajini distanced himself from the letter stating that it was not his, he mentioned that information about his health in that letter were true. He also clarified that as far as his political plans are concerned, a call would be taken after consulting the office-bearers of RMM.
During the Shah-Gurumurthy meeting, the latter had told Amit Shah about all latest developments regarding Rajini’s political entry. He had also told Shah that Rajini wished to be a part of a coalition of non-Dravidian parties (DMK and AIADMK). Rajini is said to have spoken over phone to Amit Shah during which he reportedly said that his health prevented him from campaigning. Sources also note that he did not commit towards openly associating with the BJP. The Shah-Gurumurthy meeting reportedly ended at around 2:30 AM.
With Rajini still dillydallying about his political journey, Amit Shah has charted plans for the growth of the party with or without Rajinikanth’s support. Amit Shah knows that the growth of BJP is not dependent on one individual. He has asked the BJP Tamil Nadu to concentrate on working at the booth level to expand the party’s base. Based on reports from intelligence and RSS feeds, Amit Shah is said to have cemented the AIADMK-BJP alliance sensing that there exists a potential for the alliance to emerge victorious.