New obstacles to interfaith marriages in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh

In Gujarat, an amendment to the marriage registration law introduces new requirements that risk hindering unions between people of different religions or castes. The High Court of Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh, had to reiterate that interfaith relationships between consenting adults do not constitute a crime. Two parallel cases that reignite the debate on the relationship between state legislation, constitutional rights and political campaigns against so-called “love jihad”.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The issue of interfaith marriages and marriages between people from different castes is once again a topic of debate in India, with parallel cases in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh highlighting the tensions between the laws of individual states and the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

In Gujarat, the government has enacted a new law making parental consent mandatory for marriage, amending the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Act of 2006. The state has justified the move as a measure to protect the most vulnerable, but legal experts and Supreme Court judges argue that an adult should not have to obtain permission from either the state or their family. According to some lawyers, the introduction of this requirement is actually aimed at hindering interfaith marriages and marriages between people of different castes, limiting freedom of choice and affecting women in particular.

Several past rulings confirm the Supreme Court's position, which often disagrees with the political line of state governments. In 2018, the Kerala Court annulled an interfaith marriage by invoking parens patriae jurisdiction, describing the woman involved, then 24, as ‘weak and vulnerable’. The Supreme Court intervened to reaffirm that marrying a person of one's choice and choosing one's religion are inalienable rights. The case sparked a debate, highlighting how certain laws can allow the state to replace the individual under the pretext of protecting them, treating adults who are fully capable of self-determination as vulnerable subjects.

In Gujarat, with the new legislative amendment, spouses must submit a written statement that they have informed their parents and attach copies of identity documents, telephone numbers and certificates of residence of their families. The reform, introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ultra-nationalist Hindu party to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs, was also supported by the opposition: both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Indian National Congress, the BJP's historic opponent, called it “necessary”, stating that it serves to protect girls “who in modern times often allow themselves to be led astray”.

At the same time, the issue was also addressed in Uttar Pradesh, where the Allahabad High Court ruled that cohabitation and marriage between people of different faiths do not constitute an offence under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act of 2021. The decision came after a petition was filed by a dozen Muslim and Hindu men and women who were receiving death threats because of their relationships. The Court recalled that ‘there can be no discrimination based on caste, creed, sex or religion’ and reaffirmed the right of citizens to freely choose their partner, as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.

While acknowledging that the government supported the application of the Anti-Conversion Act to relationships “in the nature of marriage”, the judges specified that these provisions only apply in cases of actual conversion. Since no attempt at forced or fraudulent conversion was found in the cases examined, the Court ruled that an interfaith relationship, even cohabitation, does not constitute a crime, granting protection to couples and authorising them to report threats to the police.

Interfaith marriages have been a major concern for years for the ruling BJP government, which claims that young Hindu women are being converted to Islam in the name of love (a phenomenon that ultra-nationalists call ‘love jihad’). As a result, many states, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Orissa, and more recently Rajasthan, have adopted laws to curb conversions considered forced or through marriage. According to the government, which for years has been spreading hate speech against religious minorities, including Muslims and Christians, such as “population jihad”, “land jihad” and “halal jihad”, this is a danger to Indian society, as the Muslim community would grow at the expense of the Hindu community, transforming India into an Islamic country.