All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) strongly condemned the recently passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the state assembly on July 30, which aiming to make the existing 2021 anti-conversion law more stringent. The new draconian bill proposes increasing the maximum sentence from 10 years to life imprisonment, along with a fine of up to 5 lakh rupees. The previous law allowed only the victim’s family to file a complaint at the police station, whereas the new bill permits "any individual" to file a complaint. It is known that the BJP aims to implement this law nationwide as part of the nefarious 'love jihad' conspiracy theory, aimed at targeting Muslim and minority groups.
AIPWA National Secretary Meena Tiwari said that that the law is inspired and on the lines of by Manusmriti’s prohibition on inter-caste marriages, Nazi Germany's criminalization of interracial marriages, and the racial discrimination seen in the U.S. and South Africa. She said that this law is a serious attack on the Constitution, women's rights, and personal liberty. The BJP wants to create a country of hatred against love, and we must resist this vile conspiracy to enslave women and create communal polarization. Adults should have the right to follow the religion of their choice, and, most importantly, the state should not have the authority to decide whom women can marry.
