Bhopal, December 26: The Madhya Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday approved the MP Freedom of Religion Bill 2020. The state cabinet gave its nod to the bill at a special meeting chaired by the Chief Minister. Narottam Mishra, State Minister, was quoted saying by ANI that under new Bill, forcing religious conversion on someone will attract 1-5 years of imprisonment and a minimum Rs 25,000 fine. Madhya Pradesh has now become the third BJP-ruled state to clear anti-love jihad law after Yogi Adityanath's Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the state government will not  allow forced conversions in Madhya Pradesh. "Under new bill, anyone who does it will face jail term up to 10 years and a minimum penalty of Rs 50,000 as fine", he said. Adding further, the Chief Minister said that many incidents came to light where minor girls were converted, married and made to contest Panchayat polls.

All About the MP Freedom of Religion Bill 2020:

  1. The MP Freedom of Religion Bill 2020, also known as the 'Dharma Swatantrya Bill' 2020, was approved by the state cabinet today.

  2. The Bill comes with a provision for five-year rigorous imprisonment for luring a person through fraud and forcing marriage by religious conversion by making it a cognisable and non-bailable offence.

  3. Under new Bill, forcing religious conversion on someone will attract 1-5 yrs of imprisonment and a minimum Rs 25,000 fine, Narottam Mishra said.

  4. Under the new MP Freedom of Religion Bill 2020, forced conversion of a minor, woman or a person from Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, would draw a minimum jail term of 2-10 years with a minimum penalty of Rs 50,000.

Here are the tweets:

Last month, state home minister Narottam Mishra had said the Madhya Pradesh Dharm Swatantrey (freedom of religion) Bill, 2020 would be passed in the next session of the state assembly. According to a report by Hindustan Times, Mishra had said that the law, with a provision of five years in jail for forced conversions for marriage, was needed in the state amid the rising cases number of forced religious conversions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2020 11:33 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).