Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Sunday said that the state government has decided to soon introduce a law against “love jihad” with a life imprisonment penalty. The Chief Minister also announced several other decisions taken by the BJP government.
Sarma was speaking in Guwahati at a BJP state executive meeting, where he announced a string of decisions that he said were aimed at “protecting the rights of indigenous people” and of fulfilling the promises made before the 2021 elections.
“At the time of elections, we had spoken about love jihad. In the coming days, we will bring a new law that will introduce life imprisonment as a penalty for love jihad cases,” he said.
“Love jihad” is a term used by the Hindu right-wing to allege that Muslim men coerce Hindu women into converting to Islam by luring them into romantic relationship. States including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have introduced “love jihad” laws.
He also said that the state government will introduce different measures to curb the sale of land to Muslims in the state.
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