The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Dharma Swatantrata (Religious Freedom) Ordinance, 2020 to deal with "love jihad" cases in the state. The ordinance was approved during a special Cabinet session which was presided over by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal. The Madhya Pradesh government has proposed a maximum punishment of 10 years for so-called 'love jihad'-related offences, in its new ordinance. The Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Bill, 2020 Bill was approved on Saturday and would have been tabled in the upcoming Assembly session but the session has now been cancelled. The Bharatiya Janata Party government took the ordinance route much like the Uttar Pradesh to enact the law to check forced religious conversion.

Source: dna December 29, 2020 08:48 UTC