Hindu organisation seeks stringent 'anti-love jihad' law in Maharashtra

Thane, Dec 10 (PTI) The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), a right wing organisation, on Wednesday urged the Maharashtra government to enact a stringent law against "love jihad" during the winter session of the state legislature currently underway in Nagpur.

Love jihad is a term used by right-wing groups and activists to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.

A state-wide campaign coordinated by the HJS was conducted, in which more than 160 Hindu organisations from across 20 districts urged the government to pass a stringent law against love jihad.

In a release, Sunil Ghanvat, HJS' state organiser for Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, said, "More than 1,600 activists and citizens participated in rallies, public meetings and memorandum drives across Mumbai, Jalgaon, Dhule, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Ahilyanagar, Akola, Amravati, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Satara, Pune, Solapur, Nashik, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and other districts." Memorandums of this demand were submitted to district collectors, taluka administrations, elected representatives, the Governor, the Chief Minister and the home department, he said.

Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Uttarakhand have already enacted laws to curb forced conversions, and a similar legislation should be brought in Maharashtra, which will provide for life imprisonment to the offenders, registration of non-bailable offences against them, among other things, it said.

The organisations also demanded an anti-land grabbing law. PTI COR NP