The legal ramifications of the recently promulgated Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 are examined by juxtaposing popular perceptions of inter-religious marriages as “dishonourable” to the concerned families and communities, with a feminist perspective of women’s agency and exercise of choice in marriage. The key to preventing the phenomenon of conversion for marriage lies not in enacting draconian legislations that arm the state machinery with arbitrary powers, but in streamlining and simplifying procedures under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 that allow for inter-religious marriages without religious conversion of either person.
In light of the renewed demand from certain sections of society to enact laws against religious conversions for marriage, this reading list analyses the harmful impact of the narrative of “love jihad” on Hindu women.
Honour killings are rampant in many parts of India, particularly in its north and northwest states. An account of a young couple who managed to escape and marry but are still being hunted and thus, hiding.
In principle the Special Marriage Act recognises the independence of individuals and is intended to enable their liberation from the traditional, coercive collectivities in the matter of marriage. But the conditionalities attached and procedure prescribed for special marriages provide enough time and scope for family, caste and community to harass those who wish to take recourse to the act.
