French Political Commentator Christophe Jaffrelot wrote a column ‘Law of Unfreedom’ (IE, 26 November) where he opined that the proposed law on ‘Love Jihad’ will show a transition from ‘a de facto to a de jure Hindu Rashtra’ which will make India ‘an ethnic democracy…where mixed marriages are practically impossible.’ This article, in my opinion, is making several fallacious observations and avoiding the plight of women who faced trauma due to patriarchal mentality that they should be converted in any way possible.

First, given the new ordinance doesn’t explicitly mention the religions of victim and perpetrators, this observation--a step towards Hindu Rasthra--becomes fallacious and rhetoric. The proposed law is religion neutral which doesn’t even make consensual marriages between two adults impossible or illegal. It doesn’t mention the Hindu women and Muslim men; it can be ubiquitously applied to any forced conversion using the interfaith marriage.

Second, the terms ‘Love Jihad’ isn’t explicitly reserved to Hindutva groups and Sangh Parivar as Jaffrelot believes. This term is used by minorities too, including Christians and Jains including apolitical figures and organizations. Just in this month, the synod of Malabar Church reportedly said that ‘Love Jihad is a reality.’ Five years ago, a famous Jain monk Tarun Sagar also asserted that ‘Love Jihad’ is a ‘conspiracy’ for conversion.

In January of this year, the largest Christian dominion--The Syro-Malabar Church--issued a letter. ‘Instead of viewing love jihad as a religious issue, police should consider this as a law and order problem that threatens to vitiate communal harmony,’ the letter reads. ‘Statistics with us show [that] it is not sheer imaginary. There have been recent complaints in the state that women were sexually abused in the name of love and later forced to convert.’ After the allegations, the National Minority Commission also asked Kerala Police for the report on ‘Love Jihad’.

Third, it is due to only ‘patriarchal paranoia’ (IE’s editorial ‘Roll it Back’, November 26) that several religious texts call women a ‘tilth’ to be cultivated. Even if we do not indulge ourselves into the terminologies like ‘Love Jihad’, the forced conversions, and the ones where women are specifically targeted, are the harsh realities of the times we are living in. It is due to patriarchy that women are being seen the instruments to be converted rather than to be accepted with their faiths.

There is a continuous pattern wherein women are sexually exploited, threatened, and forced to change their religions. In Meerut, Shamshaad allegedly faked the documents to show himself a Hindu to marry Priya who would be killed along with her daughter in July of this year. Similarly, in Ahmedabad, one Qureshi submitted an affidavit in the court at the time of marriage that he would not convert his wife to another religion. But, after two years of marriage, wife alleged in a police complaint at Vastrapur Police station, he started throwing religious slurs like ‘Kafir’ and pressurized her to convert amidst the pandemic. These cases are just a tip on the iceberg that how love and marriage have been used as tool to convert.

Even minor girls, who cannot give consent, aren’t exception here. Last year, the FIR 612/19 was reported at Dumri Block of Muffassil Police Station, Bihar states that Mohammad Jaseem, a tutor, eloped with a 16-year-old minor girl and whatsapped her conversion-Nikah papers to family after a month. If this is not pedophilia and patriarchy then what are they?

Lastly, I would like to say that the interfaith marriages are not being targeted through this legislation. A legislation was the need of an hour to protect the vulnerable from being exploited and tortured for religious conversions. The plight of the victims, who were killed, harassed, and undergoing trauma, should not be ignored. However, a bit clarity from the ruling party would help to clear the clouds of ambiguity.

Image Credit: The Indian Express