Love, Conversions and Laws curbing Freedoms

Ram Puniyani
January 14, 2021

Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020, passed by UP on 27th November 2020, has set the ball rolling. On one hand many other BJP ruled states like MP and Haryana are activating their machinery to bring in similar law in their states and on the other at social level many interfaith couples are being subjected to harassment, some of the Muslim men in particular are being put behind the bars. This law has intentions which are out and out communal as already from 1960s there have been anti-conversion laws. The new laws have goals which are sinister and have the potential of being misused to create social disharmony.

While the ordinance does not use the word love jihad, the foot soldiers of the Hindu nationalist politics are out in the open with apprehending Muslim Man-Hindu girl couple and subjecting them to increasing degrees of torture. In Northern states the phenomenon of intimidation and violence against such couples, the Muslim men in particular is surging. Gradually more couples are being brought into the spiral of moral policing and intimidations. The worst part of the process is that those taking the laws into their hands enjoy impunity and are becoming bolder in creating a divisive atmosphere in the society and pushing back the minority Muslim community into submission and marginalization. At the same time these are putting pressure on Hindu girls and restricting their mobility and freedom.

This time two issues are being rolled into one. The fear of conversions away from Hinduism is being linked to Hindu girls having relationship with Muslim boys. At one level interfaith and inter caste relationships are natural in an open society, where people from different castes/religion interact at various levels.  

Dislike for interfaith marriages was put bluntly by the UP Chief minister Adityanath Yogi, who citing a recent ruling of the Allahabad High Court which said religious conversion for the sake of marriage is unacceptable, warned that those waging “love jihad” should mend their ways or be prepared for their last journey — “Ram naam satya hai ki yatra nikalne waali hai”. (The slogan recited in the funeral processions) The instructions have also been passed down that parents should keep a watch on their daughters.

The new law brought in by the UP Government needs to be questioned in the courts as it is an outright attack on different clauses of the Constitution, which gives us the freedom to choose, practice and propagate our faith and other provisions giving us liberty to choose our life partner. This present law (UP and possibly in other states) aims to popularize that Hindu culture is under threat, Hindu girls are vulnerable and Hindu males have to act as their protectors. While the ordinance does not mention the word love jihad, the background and the statements of the top leaders of Hindu nationalism and the actions of vigilantes makes it clear that it is an outright attempt to target the inter faith marriages , especially when the groom is a Muslim. The accusation is that after such marriages the Hindu girl is unable to practice her religion in her marital home and is forced to convert.

Such cases of interfaith marriages are few and far between in this large country of ours’. In more democratized countries interfaith marriages are on the rise, close to becoming social norm. Also Muslim girl and Hindu boy cases are fewer in number, and in the present scenario even the Hindu boy (Ankit Saxena) has to face the wrath of the parents of the girl. The Trinmul Congress MP Nusrat Jahan was also trolled for her choice to marry a Hindu. But overall the hue and cry, the target is the Muslim boy.

 In Maharashtra, a group “Hindu Rakshak Samiti” has been claiming to save Hindu religion by breaking up the Hindu Muslim couples, if the girl happens to be a Hindu. A booklet in Marathi on Love Jihad shows a Muslim boy riding the Motor bike, with Hindu girl riding pillion. In case of a Muslim girl marrying a Hindu and converting is presented as Ghar Wapasi (return home) so is not attacked by Hindu vigilante groups. The police investigation mostly showed that there is no such phenomenon as Love Jihad. The organizational promotion of such marriages is a hoax but has become part of social understanding.

Why are there such and opposition to inter faith marriage? Is it a plan by Muslims to lure Hindu girls, marry and convert them? This is a make believe propaganda. As such it is an attempt to paint the Muslim men doing it deliberately under a plan! What is missed out in the whole scheme of things is that here, in this assertive aggressive propaganda and violence the agency of Hindu girls/women is reduced to zero. Hindu girls are presented as being gullible and without any will or decision making power of their own. While Muslim men are presented as a threat to Hinduism and the Hindu girls are presented as being without any mind of their own. The advice being given to parents to keep a watch on the movements of their daughters and their contacts is a mechanism to control the lives of girls.

All sectarian nationalist ideologies are strongly patriarchal and so the woman has to be under the control of men as ‘their property’. Patriarchal values and nationalism under the wraps of religion go hand in hand. With Independence and implementation of Indian Constitution this journey takes a good leap and we can see the women as their own selves coming to all the spheres of Indian social, educational and political life of the country. This is a matter of discomfiture to those who pay lip service to values of equality and eulogize the ancient holy texts, which give subordinate place to women.

Hope the judiciary is able to restrain the state governments in withdrawing these laws which are oppressive. The interfaith amity needs to be promoted at all the levels.

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News Network
December 21,2024

New Delhi: The Ministry of Law and Justice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has made an amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules, restricting public access to certain electoral documents that were previously available.

The original Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules stated, “all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.” However, following the amendment on Friday, the rule now reads, “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.”

Activists have raised concerns, claiming that the insertion of the phrase “as specified in these rules” limits access to various official documents created during elections to Parliament and Assemblies, which are not explicitly mentioned in the rules.

RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak pointed out that there are numerous documents, though not listed in the rules, that are generated by election officials such as Presiding Officers, Sector Officers (responsible for constituency vulnerability mapping), and those in charge of EVM movement and replacement of defective machines on polling day. These include reports from general, police, and expenditure observers, as well as Returning Officers and Chief Electoral Officers.

Nayak emphasized, “Access to these documents is crucial for ensuring the fairness of elections and the accuracy of results.”

The amendment comes shortly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Election Commission to provide video footage and documents related to votes cast at a polling station in the recent Haryana Assembly elections to lawyer Mehmood Pracha. Pracha has criticized the amendment, asserting that it will withhold essential information. “This is a reconfirmation of the Election Commission’s bias,” he said.

Nayak further stated, “This amendment undermines the principle of full transparency established by the Supreme Court in the Electoral Bonds case. The notification of this amendment on the very day Parliament was adjourned sine die has deprived MPs of the opportunity to challenge its necessity in real time.”

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News Network
December 8,2024

assad.jpg

The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule over the Arab country after the militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed and captured the capital Damascus.

In a statement on Sunday morning, the HTS militants declared that they had captured the capital, confirming reports of the fall of the Assad government.

Earlier in the day, Reuters quoted an unnamed officer as saying that the Syrian army command notified officers that the Assad government had fallen.

Ready to cooperate with power transfer: Syrian PM

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali expressed the government’s readiness to “extend its hand” to the militants and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” he said in a video statement.

He also noted that he would go to his office to continue work in the morning, calling on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.

Foreign-backed militants, led by the HTS, waged a surprise two-pronged attack on Syria’s Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib on November 27.

Soon afterward, they captured several Syrian cities, including Hama, Homs, Dara’a, Suwayda, and Damascus.

HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani called on militants to leave state institutions unharmed.

“To all military forces in the city of Damascus, it is strictly forbidden to approach public institutions, which will remain under the supervision of the former Prime Minister until they are officially handed over, and it is also forbidden to fire bullets into the air,” he said in a statement released on Telegram.

HTS declares fall of Assad government

In their statement, the HTS militant group, which called itself the Syrian National Transitional Council, announced the toppling of the Assad government.

It further vowed to “preserve the unity and sovereignty of Syrian territory, … protect all citizens and their property, regardless of their affiliations,” and “achieve comprehensive national reconciliation.”

Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of militants saying that President Assad has been overthrown and all prisoners have been released.

“The city of Damascus has been liberated,” said one of the militants who read the statement.

“All the prisoners have been released from the prison of Damascus. We wish all our fighters and citizens preserve and maintain the property of the state of Syria. Long live Syria.”

‘In cooperation with UN'

Head of the Syrian National Coalition, Hadi al-Bahra, said, “The situation is safe, and there is no room for revenge or retaliation.”

“Government institutions will resume operations within two days” and that the “transfer of power will take place in cooperation with the United Nations,” he told Al-Arabiya.

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News Network
December 8,2024

militants.jpg

The Israeli regime forces have launched a foray into Syrian soil and entered the southwestern city of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights after militant groups took control of the Arab country.

The Israeli media reported on Sunday that the regime’s tanks had entered Quneitra on the border of the occupied Golan following heavy shelling of surrounding areas.

“Israeli forces pushed into the buffer zone in the Quneitra area, and launched artillery shelling in the area,” the website of the Times of Israel newspaper said.

The regime’s media also reported the entry of Israeli tanks into Khan Arnabeh, which is to the northeast of Quneitra and five kilometers from the border of the occupied Golan.

Quneitra is within the so-called buffer zone established in 1974 between the occupied Golan and Syria, but Khan Arnabeh is beyond that and the regime’s forces are not allowed to enter.

The resistance media confirmed reports of the Israeli aggression and said the development took place after the regime increased its deployment in the occupied Golan ahead of the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Damascus.

Local reports said schools were canceled in four settlements in the occupied Golan due to the “security situation,” adding that the Israeli military had set up checkpoints in the area.

At least four airstrikes targeted the Quneitra countryside after the Israeli tanks entered the area.

The occupation forces were also reported to be digging a large trench on the Syrian border and have destroyed what they claim are weapons depots.

The Israeli occupation army declared that in light of the developments in Syria, it had deployed forces to key areas along the border to ensure the security of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid also said, “In light of the developments in Syria, it is more important than ever to form a strong regional alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords countries to confront regional instability together.”

Earlier in the day, the armed Syrian opposition groups raided the capital Damascus, and took control of the city’s radio and television station as well as major military and security centers.

The armed groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants, announced that they had fully captured the Syrian capital and confirmed reports of the fall of the Assad government.

HTS leader Ahmed al-Shar’a, known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has called on Syrian people not to get close to government institutes and organizations until an official transfer of power takes place under the supervision of the prime minister.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

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