Gujarat is Strictly Dealing With Love Jihad and Cow Slaughter: Vijay Rupani

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani said that his government was dealing strictly with those who "trap" Hindu girls.

Ahmedabad’s UN Mehta Hospital said that the 64-year-old CM is stable and will be kept under observation for 24-hours. Image used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that his government was dealing strictly with those who "trap" Hindu girls and incidents of cow slaughter, according to an NDTV report.

At the ground-breaking ceremony for a building of the Raika Education Charitable Trust in Ahmedabad, the Chief Minister said that his government had brought in several laws with strict provisions to deal with these issues.

"My government brought in several laws with strict provisions. Be it the law to save cows from slaughter, the law to stop land grabbing, or the law to punish those involved in chain-snatching. We also brought a law to stop 'love jihad'. We are dealing strictly with those who trap Hindu girls and elope with them.

Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat

In April 2021, the Gujarat Assembly passed the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 which has provisions for three to ten years of imprisonment for religious conversions or inter faith marriages "done by trickery".

On 19 August, the Gujarat High Court stayed the operation of the law in connection with inter-faith marriages, with the judges saying:

"Prima-facie inter-faith marriages between two consenting adults by operation of the provisions of Section 3 of the 2003 Act interferes with the intricacies of marriage including the right to the choice of an individual, thereby infringing Article 21 of the Constitution Of India."

Although 'love jihad' remains an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory popularised by fringe right-wing groups, several BJP-led states including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have passed similar 'anti-conversion' laws to target it.

The Rupani-led Gujarat government had also brought in the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2017 that provides for harsher punishment and penalties for cow slaughter in the state.