The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश धर्म विधि विरुद्ध धर्म संपरिवर्तन प्रतिषेध अध्यादेश, romanized: Uttara Pradēśa Vidhi Virudha Dharma Saṁparivartana Pratiśēdha Adhyādēśa, 2020), referred to as the Love Jihad law by most of the media,^[1][2] is an anti-conversion law enacted by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, India. The Uttar Pradesh state cabinet cleared the ordinance on 24 November 2020 following which it was approved and signed by state Governor Anandiben Patel on 28 November 2020.^[3][4]

The law makes religious conversion non-bailable with up to 10 years of jail time if undertaken through misinformation, unlawfully, forcefully, allurement or other allegedly fraudulent means. The law also requires that religious conversions for marriage in Uttar Pradesh has to be approved by a district magistrate. The law also encompasses strict action for mass conversion, including cancellation of registration of social organisation involve in mass religious conversion.^[5]

The ordinance was passed amid media publicity and heated debate over love jihad.^[6] However, the law itself contains no mention of love jihad.^[7] The ordinance was passed days after the Yogi Adityanath government launched 'Mission Shakti', a campaign for the safety and security of women in the state.^[8][9]

Prior to India's independence, during the British Raj, Hindu princely states including Kota, Patna, Surguja, Udaipur, and Kalahandi passed laws restricting religious conversions "in an attempt to preserve Hindu religious identity against Muslims."

The ordinance defines as:^[25][26]

1. Allurement: means any gift, gratification, easy money or material benefit either in cash or kind, employment, free education in a reputed school run by any religious body ,a etter lifestyle, divine pleasure ,,r otherwise.
2. Coercion: forcing someone to do something against their will by employing physical force or psychological coercion that threatens or injures them.
3. Conversion: by renouncing one's own religion and adopting another religion.
4. Fradulent: means impersonation by false name, surname, of religious symbols.
5. Religion converter: refers to a person of any religion who converts to another, regardless of the title they go by, such as Mulla, Father, Karmkandi, or Maulvi.

The law makes conversion non-bailable with up to 10 years of jail time if undertaken unlawfully, that is if "done through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, fraudulent means" or solely for marriage.^[5] The ordinance also lays down provisions related to mass conversions.^[5] The law requires that religious conversions for marriage in Uttar Pradesh to be approved by a district magistrate.^[5] Uttar Pradesh Law Commission says that the proposed law does not include any restriction on interfaith marriage.^[21] But experts point out that the vague framing of law makes it easy for the police to interrogate any interfaith marriage and harass Muslim men and interfaith couples.^[27]

A few hours after the ordinance came into effect, the first case was filed.^[28][29] Muskan Jahan, then 3 months pregnant, was the first woman detained under the new ordinance.^[30] She was sent to a 'protection home' after her husband was arrested where she suffered a miscarriage allegedly due to negligence by authorities.^[30] Both were later released after a court found no evidence of 'love jihad'.^[31] In relation to another case being brought before the police, a senior police officer in Shahabad said:^[32]

"It is a fact that the two were in love. She knew that he was a Muslim and went to the court to marry him, [...] Now that we received a complaint of forceful conversion, we registered the case and made the arrest. Whether it is justified or not, is for the court to decide. In such cases, the girl's statement is sacrosanct."

The law has empowered Hindu nationalist groups like the Bajrang Dal and used by them to stop interfaith marriages between consenting adults and prosecute them for it.^[32][33] Within 1 month of passing the law, 14 cases were initiated and 51 arrests made.^[34] Of these, 13 cases alleged that Hindu women were converted to Islam and in the one case it was alleged that the conversion was to Christianity.^[34] In 8 cases, the women gave statements saying that they are a friend or in a relationship with the accused person and in one case, there was a married couple.^[35][34] The onus to prove that the conversions were not forced was placed on the convert and the accused.^[36] In only 2 cases, the complaint was made by girls themselves,^[34] including one case in Hardoi where a woman was brought by the Bajrang Dal to file a case who claimed that she was enchanted with a tabeez (religious locket).^[32]

In another incident, Uttar Pradesh police stopped a Muslim wedding ceremony and detained the couple for a night inside the police station mistaking the bride as a converted Hindu woman on the basis of rumours.^[37] An interfaith couple has also fled Uttar Pradesh and sought protection in Delhi High Court from Uttar Pradesh police applying the law against them.^[38] In a village in Firozabad, a mob chased the family of an accused in a case where the 'victim' has denied allegations of 'love jihad' while the police is still searching for the accused.^[39] There were also reports of Uttar Pradesh police refusing to register cases under the provisions of 'love jihad law' when the complainants were muslim women who converted to Hinduism for marrying Hindu men but were later rejected by their husbands after marriage.^[40]

Numerous experts have described the law as unconstitutional including former Law Commission chairman Justice A. P. Shah & former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur.^[43][44] The criticism is largely focused on denying the right to freedom of religion and restricting women's rights to choose their partner.^[45][46] In December 2020, 104 former bureaucrats have written an open letter to Chief minister Yogi Adityanath asking him to repeal the law. They alleged that UP "has become the epicentre of politics of hate, division and bigotry and the institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison".^[47]

In January 2021, 224 retired judges, civil servants, diplomats, armed forces veterans wrote a letter to the CM in support of the UP law against 'unlawful conversion'.^[48]

"The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 applies to everyone belonging to any religion, provides for the regulation of conversion through prescribed declaration and giving notice to authorities for ruling out unlawful conversions based on misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, fraudulent means, marriages etc. It rightly provides that the marriages done for sole purpose of unlawful conversion can be declared void by the family courts on a petition by any of the two parties in a marriage"

• Hadiya case