Indian state's ‘Love Jihad’ law denounced by ex-bureaucrats, diplomats

LUCKNOW: Over 100 retired senior civil servants and diplomats have urged the Hindu nationalist leader of Uttar Pradesh to repeal the new law, that criminalising the forced conversion of religion of the brides, a British wire service reported on Wednesday.

“You can pose no greater threat to the nation than by turning its own citizens against one another, a conflict that can only serve the country’s enemies,” the former bureaucrats wrote in the letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The vigilantes from various Hindu groups were intimidating and harassing Indians, especially Muslim men, and “acting as a power unto themselves”, the former bureaucrats from various federal ministries, states, government agencies and foreign missions said. Although no religion is specified in the legislation, critics said it was aimed against the country's Muslim minority, as hard-line Hindu groups had accused Muslim men of waging a campaign, dubbed a ‘Love Jihad’, to lure Hindu women to convert into Islam with the promises of marriage. Uttar Pradesh (UP), controlled by Modi’s BJP, enacted a law last month against pressuring the brides to change their religion or offering financial rewards to convert their faiths. The BJP-controlled government in neighbouring, Madhya Pradesh, is also preparing to follow the suit.

“What is worse is that your law enforcement machinery, with the active backing of your government, is playing a role reminiscent of the secret police in authoritarian regimes,” they said in a letter dated December 29. Thirty Muslim men were arrested in Uttar Pradesh under the new law earlier this month, and could face jail terms, if found guilty. The former bureaucrats, several of whom were well-known public figures, said the state government should withdraw the ‘illegal’ order, compensate victims and hold errant policemen accountable.

Mrityunjay Kumar, an advisor to Adityanath told that the government has not yet received any letter and called it ‘a publicity stunt.’ While contradicting Kumar, India’s former chief information commissioner and one of the signatories, Wajahat Habibullah said “It is an open letter and, therefore, it has been placed in the public domain”. “The main purpose is to awaken the public against the illegality of the action taken by the UP government,” he added.