Indian Court's Order On 'Love Jihad' Draws Attention To 'The Practice Of Muslim Men To Convert Women From Non-Muslim Communities To Islam By Pretending To Love Them And Marrying Them'

In recent years, a societal phenomenon called "love jihad" has become a topic of discussion in Indian media.[1] While interfaith couples regularly marry in India under the Special Marriages Act (SPA), right-wing Hindu groups sometimes thwart such marriages by pressuring parents of non-Muslim women to prevent such marriages and allege a "love jihad" phenomenon in which a Muslim man marries a Hindu woman in order to convert her to Islam.

There are also cases in India of Muslim girls marrying Hindu men and practicing Hinduism.[2] For example in Jharkhand state's Godda district the 20-year-old Muslim woman Muskaan Khatoon "first converted to Hinduism and then married" her Hindu lover Ram Kumar and was given police protection due to threats from her family.[3]

In 2017, a MEMRI analysis discussed the phenomenon of love jihad in India, and how some Muslim writers view this as a "victory for Islam."[4] The analysis stated: "In cases of interfaith marriage, Hindu and Christian women convert to Islam to marry a Muslim man. Predominantly, it is the non-Muslim women who convert to marry, though there are cases where non-Muslim men have embraced Islam to marry Muslim women. In the eyes of non-Muslim parents, this phenomenon is notable for the fact that the Muslim man does not convert to the religion of his partner to marry. In Indian society, this phenomenon has come to be known as 'love jihad.'"[5]

Image courtesy: IndianExpress.com

On October 2, 2024, media reports highlighted a judgment delivered by a controversial Hindu judge of a court in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh convicting a Muslim man of "love jihad." The case involves a May 2023 case in which a Hindu wife lodged a complaint against the accused husband Mohammad Alim, his father Sabir Alam, and others of putting pressure on her to convert.

The court in the town of Bareilly sentenced the 25-year-old man to life imprisonment and his father to a two-year term, along with a Rs 100,000 fine, after finding them guilty of coercing a 20-year-old woman to embrace Islam and marrying her while himself pretending to embrace Hinduism.[6]

The judge of the court in Bareilly made some observations that have attracted media attention. According to a report published by LiveLaw.in, Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, in his 42-page order, noted that "the main objective of Love-Jihad is to establish supremacy/dominance over India by some 'anarchist elements of a particular religion' by waging demographic war and international conspiracy."[7]

"The crime of illegal conversion of Hindu girls by trapping them in love through love jihad is being carried out on a large scale by a rival gang i.e. syndicate, by brainwashing people belonging to the weaker sections of non-Muslims, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC communities, women and children and by speaking ill of their religion, by making derogatory comments about the gods and goddesses, by applying psychological pressure and by luring them with various types of temptations like marriage, job etc., so that conditions like Pakistan and Bangladesh can be created in India too," the Court's order reads.[8]

According to a report by Bar & Bench, the following are some more excerpts from the judgement: "[T]he accused Mohd. Alim told victim his Hindu name as Anand and deceived her, married her according to Hindu customs and rituals and raped her and also made her photographs and videos and thereafter raped her multiple times...

"In simple words, love jihad is the practice of Muslim men to convert women from non-Muslim communities to Islam by pretending to love them and marrying them. Illegal conversions through love jihad are carried out by some anarchist elements of a particular religion or are made to do so or are involved in a conspiracy. Some anarchist elements are the ones who carry out the above acts, but the entire religion gets defamed. A huge amount of money is required for love jihad. Hence, the fact of foreign funding in love jihad cannot be ruled out...

"If someone is converted illegally by force, by lying, by fraud or by force or by giving greed, then definitely action should be taken under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. No matter who that person is...

"If the Indian government does not stop illegal conversions through love jihad in time, then the country may have to face serious consequences in the future."[9]