{"id":6958,"date":"2016-04-28T08:42:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T03:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6958"},"modified":"2016-04-28T08:42:42","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T03:12:42","slug":"love-jihad-law-indian-courts-women-hindu-muslim-couple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6958","title":{"rendered":"How India\u2019s Courts Are Proving to Be the Last Line of Defence Against the \u201cLove Jihad\u201d Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span>nterfaith marriage in India has never been as fraught with complications as it is now. In the name of preventing unlawful conversions, several state governments are considering implementing a similar law to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, which prescribed jail sentences for those found guilty of attempting to influence a person to change their religion. The ordinance, promulgated by UP\u2019s government on November 24, was pushed through based on an order by the Allahabad High Court that stated religious conversion only for the sake of marriage was not acceptable. Even though Allahabad HC later struck down the order that the ordinance \u2013 colloquially called the \u201clove jihad law\u201d \u2013 was based on for being \u201cbad in law\u201d, the new legislation has been used to harass interfaith couples and make arrests in the state on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While UP\u2019s \u201clove jihad law\u201d has already received criticism for endangering religious freedom in India, it has also been pointed out how this law strips away the autonomy of adult women. According to the government that drafted the ordinance, a grown woman can have a career, vote, and drive, but still requires the state\u2019s and society\u2019s approval when it comes to choosing a life partner. There have already been cases reported in the news of UP police making arrests and forcefully separating Hindu wives from their Muslim husbands under the new ordinance, even when the women insist that the marriage was consensual. In Moradabad, the case of a pregnant woman suffering a miscarriage while her husband was under arrest became a sordid case study of how the \u201clove jihad law\u201d could affect women who chose an interfaith marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even while other states consider implementing similar laws (which will no doubt be accompanied by similar problems), there is a glimmer of hope in recent rulings by the Allahabad HC. While UP\u2019s legislature might have rammed the ordinance through, the state\u2019s judiciary becomes the last line of defence for the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion. On Sunday, November 27, the Allahabad HC reunited an interfaith Hindu-Muslim couple while also quashing an FIR against the Muslim husband on charges of abduction. \u201cAs the corpus has attained the age of majority and she has a choice to live her life on her own terms\u2026 She has expressed that she wants to live with her husband Salman, she is free to move as per her own choice without any restriction or hindrance being created by third party,\u201d the court said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This latest ruling is the latest example of the courts upholding constitutional rights in the face of what has been called a piece of vague and potentially oppressive legislation. In addition to the court reuniting the couple on Sunday and striking down its own order stating religious conversion for the purpose of marriage was invalid, the court had also ruled on December 3 that two consenting adults in a relationship can live together even without the approval of their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the love jihad laws infantilises Hindu women, assuming them to be incapable of choosing their own partner, the HC\u2019s rulings are encouraging. Even if our politicians don\u2019t view Indian women as independent, at least the courts still do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, the Allahabad High Court reunited an interfaith Hindu-Muslim couple while also quashing an FIR against the Muslim husband on charges of abduction. Though the \u201clove jihad\u201d laws infantilises Hindu women, assuming them to be incapable of choosing their own partner, the HC ruling is encouraging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":6959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[10972,10973,10974,1538,10975,10976],"class_list":["post-6958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","tag-allahabad-hc","tag-hindu-muslim","tag-interfaith-marriages","tag-love-jihad","tag-love-jihad-law","tag-love-jihad-up"],"yoast_head":"\nHow India\u2019s Courts Are Proving to Be the Last Line of Defence Against the \u201cLove Jihad\u201d Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Sunday, the Allahabad High Court reunited an interfaith Hindu-Muslim couple while also quashing an FIR against the Muslim husband on charges of abduction. 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