Policing Interfaith Marriages

Constitutional Infidelity of the Love Jihad Ordinance

Bibliographic Data

ID20511667
AuthorsSumit Sonkar (0000-0003-0581-978X, Chinese University of Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume37
Issue3
Pages432-445
Publication date2022-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Law and Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0748-0814 • E-ISSN: 2163-3088
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/jlr.2022.37
OpenAlexW4294752174
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited2

The Indian Constitution guarantees that individuals have the freedom to choose their partners free from state interference. However, the Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudh Dharma Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh, 2020 (Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Law, 2020) prohibits religious conversion to the extent that it assumes all conversions are illegal, which may have a negative impact on interfaith marriages involving consenting adults. The author argues that the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Ordinance forbidding religious conversion are vague and inadequate for addressing forceful or unlawful conversion for marriages, do not demonstrate any reasonable relation to the object of the legislation, and are constitutionally repugnant. The author concludes that by conferring police powers on state agencies to intervene in interfaith marriages, the Uttar Pradesh Ordinance erodes citizens’ freedom to choose a partner and their individual autonomy, privacy, and personal liberty—rights that are enshrined under India’s constitution

Autonomy · Constitution · Constitutional right · Criminology · Legislation · Political science · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Uttar pradesh · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Law · Legal and cultural studies analysis

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