Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday spoke about the need to “stop the trap of religious conversion” by bringing in a law. He was addressing an event in Bhopal where he said that religious conversion takes place in one way or the other.
“A law should be made to stop the trap of religious conversions. Gram Sabha will have the right to give the land back to the real owner if it’s taken in a wrong manner or through marrying someone by laying a trap,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Chouhan earlier commented on the grisly murder of Shraddha Walker in Delhi, which had captured the nation’s attention. He said his state will not allow such incident to take place and his government will introduce a fresh law against “love jihad” if required.
“Someone cheats our daughters in the name of love, marries them, and cuts them into 35 pieces. Such acts will not be allowed in Madhya Pradesh. The state government will bring stringent laws to prevent such acts,” he said at an event to mark the martyrdom anniversary of tribal icon Tantiya Bhil.
He said people marry tribal women to purchase lands in their names and this is a “game of love jihad”. “Several people marry tribal women to purchase land in their names. This is not love. It is love jihad, I will not allow this game of ‘love jihad’ to continue in the state,” he said.
Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh brought an anti-conversion law in 2021 which penalises fraudulent religious conversions with a jail term of up to 10 years or fine up to ₹1 lakh.
