Rattled over States enacting anti-conversion laws, secular gang piles up PILs

India

oi-Deepak Tiwari

The
left-liberal
lobby
fears
that
the
Acts
would
discourage
‘Love
Jihad’ and
impede
demographic
change.
Hence,
their
‘postergirl’
Teesta
Setalvad
has
launched
a
PIL
offensive
against
the
laws.

New
Delhi,
Dec
29:
The
ill-famed
lawyer
and
propagandist
Teesta
Setalvad
is
at
it
again.
After
failing
miserably
in
her
Gujarat
riots
related
court
cases,
she
is
now
trying
to
gain
some
media
attention
through
her
public
interest
litigations
(PILs)
against
the
anti-conversion
laws
passed
by
UP
and
Uttarakhand.

The
BJP-run
governments
in
Uttar
Pradesh
and
Uttarakhand
have
criminalised
religious
conversion
via
marriage
and
mandated
that
a
prior
official
clearance
should
be
obtained
for
the
change
in
faith.
Needless
to
say
that
this
has
not
gone
well
with
the
‘secular
gang’ as
it
is
meant
to
discourage
‘Love
Jihad’
and
demographic
change.

The
anti-conversion
laws,
popularly
called
‘anti-Love
Jihad’
laws,
were
challenged
earlier
too,
but
the
Supreme
Court
had
refused
to
stay
implementation
of
the
Acts.
However,
this
time,
the
apex
court
has
agreed
to
hear
the
petitions
to
check
the
constitutional
validity
of
the
laws,
according
to

reports.

3
arrested
for
trying
to
lure
Hindus
into
conversion
in
Karnataka

Agenda
behind
the
PILs

A
large
number
of
‘Love
Jihad’
cases
have
been
making
the
headlines.
These
are
not
just
about
inter-religion
marriages
but
using
it
as
a
tool
to
convert
women
and
enhance
the
demographics
of
a
particular
community.
Following
popular
demand
to
put
a
check
on
it,
the
UP
government
brought
in
the
Prohibition
of
Unlawful
Conversion
of
Religion
Ordinance,
2020.
A
similar
law,
Freedom
of
Religion
Act,
2018,
was
passed
by
the
Uttarakhand
government.

However,
it
appears
that
Teesta
and
her
gang
are
not
in
peace
with
the
laws
passed
by
the
democratically
elected
governments.
Her
NGO
‘Citizens
for
Justice
and
Peace’ is
a
party
in
the
PILs
against
these
State
laws.
Meanwhile,
Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind,
known
for
its
radical
Islamic
stance,
is
trying
to
be
another
party
to
help
her
as
its
agenda
for
demographic
change
is
being
impacted
by
the
laws.

Truth
behind
the
PIL
move

Although
PILs
in
general
have
largely
been
aimed
at
bringing
justice,
these
have
also
been
used
by
the
left-liberal
cabal
to
stop
progressive
laws,
stop
the
government
from
installing
development
projects
and
now
holding
back
the
elected
governments
to
pass
a
law.
An
elected
government
has
every
right
to
pass
a
law
to
protect
its
citizens
from
the
elements
involved
in
nefarious
designs
and
this
is
what
the
UP
and
Uttarakhand
governments
did.

Uttarakhand
police
registers
first
case
under
anti-conversion
law
against
Saqib
Saifi

Interestingly,
the
pleas
filed
by
Teesta’s
NGO
contend
that
the
laws
passed
by
Uttar
Pradesh
and
Uttarakhand
are
against
inter-religious
marriages
and
against
the
basic
secular
spirit
of
the
Constitution,
hence
they
be
declared
ultra
vires.
Ironically,
she
forgets
that
the
Constitution
also
does
not
permit
‘Love
Jihad’
to
wage
a
demographic
war
against
Hindus.