Assam Govt To Crackdown On 'Marriage By Deception' Amid The Growing Debate About Love Jihad

For nearly a decade fringe Hindu right-wing groups have been seeing red in the growing number of interfaith marriages in India, especially those involving Hindu brides and Muslim grooms.

Somewhere someone came up with a conspiracy theory that it was 'Love Jihad' - a covert attempt to convert Hindus girls into Islam in the name of marriage.

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Though it has never been proven that such a thing exists, the name stuck around and has since gone mainstream, and keeps on resurfacing every now and then.

Love Jihad has been one of the most discussed topics in news in the past few days after an ad of Tata-owned Tanishq ran into controversy.

AFP

The ad which showed the baby shower of an interfaith couple at a Muslim family was accused of promoting Love Jihad.

While Tanishq has since pulled down the ad, the controversy has refused to die down.

Tanishq AD / Youtube

Amid all these now it is being reported that the Assam government has decided to crack down on the ¡°emerging trend of marriages by deception¡±, usually involving a prospective groom lying about his religion to marry a Hindu girl.

According to state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, ¡°In Assam, many Muslim boys create fake Facebook accounts with Hindu names and post pictures of themselves at temples. A girl gets married to one such boy, only to discover later that he is not from the same religion. This is a not a bona fide marriage ¨C it is based on false information and basically amounts to breach of trust.¡±

AFP

He however clarified that the government wasn¡¯t against marriage outside one¡¯s religion as long as it was wilful and without deception.

Just a couple of days ago, Sarma has said that the state government will start a ¡°strict fight¡± against love jihad if the party again comes to power in 2021 assembly polls.

AFP

¡°We will have to start a strict fight against love jihad on Assam¡¯s soil. If BJP comes to power, we will take a decision that if any boy hides his religious identity and comments anything negative on Assamese women, he will face rigorous punishment,¡± he said.

Sarma claimed that girls are becoming victims of "Ajmal's culture-civilisation" on Facebook as boys hiding their religion on social media befriend and marry them.

"We have taken an oath that if Ajmal's army touches our women, the only punishment for them will be a death sentence, nothing less.