GUWAHATI: BJP-governed Assam is ready with a proposed law mandating life imprisonment for anyone convicted of “love jihad“, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said Sunday, less than a week after the UP assembly passed a Bill amending the state’s 2021 anti-conversion legislation to increase the punishment for offences linked to marriage or elopement from the current maximum 10-year jail term to life.
A law requiring prior chief ministerial consent for land-related transactions between Hindus and Muslims is also in the works to halt what Sarma labelled “land jihad“.
“We spoke about love jihad during the elections. It is a real and serious issue, involving forced conversions and deceitful romantic relationships. In the next few days, we aim to take steps to make this punishable with a life sentence,” the CM said
Land jihad big threat to demography: Himanta
If a Muslim wants to buy a Hindu’s property or a Hindu wants to buy a Muslim’s property, it will be subject to scrutiny, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at BJP’s state executive meeting in Guwahati.
Besides Uttar Pradesh in 2021, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh have enacted anti-conversion laws with separate and stricter clauses against change in religion deemed to linked to “love jihad”.
In Assam, BJP-led govt last month moved to repeal Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act and Rules of 1935, which permitted underage marriages under specific conditions.
CM Sarma mentioned at the BJP meeting that his govt viewed “land jihad” as a serious threat to the state’s demography and had al-ready reclaimed encroached areas through a series of eviction campaigns.
He said a span equivalent to the size of Chandigarh had been freed from encroachment by people from a particular community.
BJP is committed to protecting every right of the indigenous people of the state, the CM said. “We will have a new law to protect land in historically and culturally important regions like Barpeta, Majuli, and Batadrava so that only the people from those places can purchase property there.”
Sarma said the delimitation exercise last year was a crucial step towards safeguarding the state’s future.
On CAA, Sarma mentioned the “limited impact” of the agitation against the law. “Bringing CAA was a brave step by BJP govt. We are going to initiate a process to unlock biometrics of people that were blocked,” he said.
A law requiring prior chief ministerial consent for land-related transactions between Hindus and Muslims is also in the works to halt what Sarma labelled “land jihad“.
“We spoke about love jihad during the elections. It is a real and serious issue, involving forced conversions and deceitful romantic relationships. In the next few days, we aim to take steps to make this punishable with a life sentence,” the CM said
Land jihad big threat to demography: Himanta
If a Muslim wants to buy a Hindu’s property or a Hindu wants to buy a Muslim’s property, it will be subject to scrutiny, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at BJP’s state executive meeting in Guwahati.
Besides Uttar Pradesh in 2021, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh have enacted anti-conversion laws with separate and stricter clauses against change in religion deemed to linked to “love jihad”.
In Assam, BJP-led govt last month moved to repeal Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorce Registration Act and Rules of 1935, which permitted underage marriages under specific conditions.
CM Sarma mentioned at the BJP meeting that his govt viewed “land jihad” as a serious threat to the state’s demography and had al-ready reclaimed encroached areas through a series of eviction campaigns.
He said a span equivalent to the size of Chandigarh had been freed from encroachment by people from a particular community.
BJP is committed to protecting every right of the indigenous people of the state, the CM said. “We will have a new law to protect land in historically and culturally important regions like Barpeta, Majuli, and Batadrava so that only the people from those places can purchase property there.”
Sarma said the delimitation exercise last year was a crucial step towards safeguarding the state’s future.
On CAA, Sarma mentioned the “limited impact” of the agitation against the law. “Bringing CAA was a brave step by BJP govt. We are going to initiate a process to unlock biometrics of people that were blocked,” he said.
Source Agencies
