Gujarat's Anti-Love Jihad Act gives police, right wing groups a free hand to harass Muslim men

Over the past month and a half, the Gujarat police has claimed to have solved six cases of attempted ‘love jihad’. It has arrested the accused under the state's so-called 'Anti Love Jihad Law', which seeks to curb what it views as "forceful conversions".

'Love jihad' is a term used to describe the union of a Muslim man and a Hindu woman. Right-wingers claim Muslim men 'trap' Hindu women under false identities and lure them into marriage.

West Kutch area

In the report on these six 'love jihad' cases, which was submitted to the Gujarat Home Ministry, the state police said the incidents occurred in the last 45 days, with four of six cases being from the West Kutch areas of Bhuj, Mandvi, Nakhatrana and Madhapur.

A police personnel from the West Kutch zone said: “The police used human resources and technical surveillance while forming different teams to investigate when the cases of kidnapping and rape came to light. They conducted operations in disguise. It led to the arrest of one of the accused from Bihar and another from Rajasthan. The victims have been rescued and reunited with their families. All the accused have been arrested.”

Notably, in only two cases, the families of the women were the complainants. In the other four, complaints were registered by various right-wing organisations under the state's Anti-Love Jihad Act, formally called the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amended) Act, 2021.

'Intention to convert'

In the case reported at Mandvi Police Station on May 19 against one Rajak Siddiq Sumra, and on May 31 against one Abubhakhar Ramju Sumra at the Bhuj City A Division Police, the complainants were the fathers of the women – whom the police call "victims of love jihad". In both the cases, the men were accused of luring the Hindu women, and hiding their religious identity with the intention to “convert” the women and “to rape” them.

In the cases filed against Osman Ghani Suleman Abhda at Madhapur police station, and against Salim Abdul Juneja in Bhuj on June 23, the complainants were members of a local right-wing organisation based in Bhuj taluka.

The FIR filed against Salim Juneja said: “The accused took the woman to Champaran district in Bihar. Acting on intelligence given, the police coordinated with local authorities in Panchkokdi area in Bihar. The West Kutch Police disguised themselves as street vendors, traders, and vegetable sellers to keep a watch and apprehended Salim."

“Abdha had kidnapped and raped a Hindu girl. The police conducted a five-day operation in disguise as hunters in the jungles of Rajasthan to apprehend Osman. They successfully rescued the victim and arrested the accused,” read the FIR against Osman Abdha.

Harassing Muslim men

Meanwhile, the parents of one of the accused told The Federal on condition of anonymity, “The police have not let us meet our son. We were told that he had committed some grave crime. We are educated enough to understand legal jargon. All we know is the girl and our son have known each other for three years and wanted to get married. Last month, they went through the process at the marriage registrar’s office and travelled out of the state fearing interference from some men from our locality who have been harassing them for some time now.”

“We have not been able to reach out to the girl either. We are concerned about her safety as well,” they added.

Talking to The Federal, Mujaheed Nafees, convenor of Minority Minority’s Coordinate Committee, a Gujarat-based minority rights organization, said, “This Act has been primarily used to harass Muslim men in garb of protecting women." In fact, the Act "takes away the fundamental right of a woman to choose her partner", he added.

Process is punishment

According to Nafees, a complaint of a missing person has to be filed first. "After which, the local police get involved and the family and friends of the man are arrested or detained for investigation. In most cases, the charges don’t stand in court but the family goes through a long and expensive legal battle that many cannot afford,” added Nafees.

What is worse is that under the amended Act, anyone, not necessarily a relative of the woman, can file a complaint, suggesting that the woman has been forcefully converted, Nafees said. The onus of proving otherwise falls entirely on the man.

"In cases I have helped so far, I have noticed that the self-proclaimed fringe right-wing organisations reach the Marriage Registrar’ office and check the names of couples registered under the Special Marriage Act. They often are the complainants or worse, they reach the man's residence to harass him and his family. Besides, the role of the police is not supportive of the couple in such cases,” he revealed.

First arrest under the law

The Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amended) Act, 2021, was implemented on June 15, 2021, after the Bill was passed in the budget session and approved by Governor Acharya Devvrat.

Within days, the Gujarat police, on June 19, registered the first case against one Samir Qureshi under the amended Act and arrested six people including five from a family in Tarsali area in Vadodara, including the man along with his parents, sister, and uncle.

The arrests were made after a complaint was filed by a 24-year-old woman the same day stating that the accused had faked his religious identity by pretending to be a Christian and lured her into a relationship by “promising her a modern life after marriage”.

After almost a year of being arrested under the non-bailable law, the FIR against Qureshi and five others was quashed by the Gujarat High Court’s single bench of Justice Niral Mehta in November 2022.

'Amicable settlement'

The court while quashing the FIR observed, “An amicable settlement has been arrived at between the parties and they (complainant and accused) are living together. In that view of the matter, the further continuation of the criminal proceedings would jeopardize their future and thus, this court is inclined to accept the settlement.”

Importantly, when the accused moved a petition to quash the FIR before the High Court, Samir’s wife and ‘victim’ Divyaben submitted an application before the court claiming, “The love jihad angle was brought up by the police themselves, these allegations were incorrect and I never made such allegations. I have never alleged that I was forced to convert to Islam.”

The amendment to the existing Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act came after Nitin Patel, the then Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, announced in 2021 that the government would bring a legislation against ‘love jihad’ in the upcoming budget session of the Assembly.

Election campaign

Patel, who made the announcement while campaigning for the local body elections 2021, had said that the law was “essential for the safety of Hindu girls and women”.

The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act came into force in 2008, making it mandatory for a person to obtain prior approval from the district authority for consensual conversion. Under the Act, one could have been imprisoned up to three years with a fine up to ₹50,000 if found guilty of forced conversion.

However, in the amendment to the Act in 2021, the offence was made non-bailable. Essentially, it redefines the word ‘allurement’ by adding ‘better lifestyle, divine blessings or otherwise’ deeming it necessary to curb conversion by forceful marriage.

The amended Act also states that anyone who helps in conversion in the name of love and marriage will also be considered equally guilty. The Act further says anybody who observes that a woman is being ‘victimised’ can file a complaint irrespective of whether or not they are related to the victim (woman).

Any such marriage considered as forced conversion will stand to be null and void in the concerned family court, states the amended Act.

No need for new law

“The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act was originally enforced in 2008. But the law was enforced in retrospect and was called Gujarat Freedom of Religion, 2003 so that any conversion dating back to the year 2003 stands to be null and void as the Collector’s permission was not taken prior to the conversion. It was the time when organisations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad used terms like ‘ghar wapsi’ to stop tribals converting to Christianity,” advocate Samshad Pathan told The Federal.

“However, post 2014, the right-wing organisations began using the word love jihad and the law began to be used for targeting Muslims. The current amendment is an extension of the same agenda. The acts classified as crime under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act are already criminal acts under various sections of Indian Penal Code,” he said.

Further, he added, “For example, if a man lies to a woman and hides his identity, it will be punishable under IPC Section 406 or 420 punishable with seven to 10 years of jail, which is a higher quantum of punishment than what the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act guarantees. If a man rapes or molests a woman, it is punishable under IPC Section 376. There is no need for a new law unless the agenda is to target a particular community.”