Love Jihad, Yogi’s new ordinance: Fake Narratives vs. Real Provisions
A self-proclaimed intellectual class has once again waged a battle of fake narratives against the new ordinance of Yogi Government. The idea of this gang is to present UP CM Yogi Adityanath as the ‘gabbar’ who is standing between two love birds from two different religions. The idea is also to draw fake narratives against the ordinance and win the perception battle in the minds of the youth so that they can be easily tricked and manipulated.
It is also an endeavour of this class that a common man, who generally does not get into the nitty-gritty of a law, ordinance or act, perceives that interfaith marriages in UP have been placed under the category of crime and if you do so, you will fall victim to persecution like Thakur of Sholay, so you better hate Yogi and unitedly oppose him.
According to some media reports, from July 2020 to September 2020 i.e. in just two months, 20 cases of love-jihad (cheating by male partner, presenting fake identity to get married and forced conversions after marriage) were reported. More than 14 cases were reported in UP alone in a short duration, after which the Yogi government came into action. Yet, the idea of these self-proclaimed intellectuals is to bring and nurture some fake narratives through various media outlets and social media platforms in such a way that the youth of this nation feels that this ordinance is a direct attack on the soul of ‘Idea of India’. The Idea of India which only grows in the minds of members of this gang and succumbs to the ‘incomprehensible wisdom’ of all the Swaras and Kashyapas through the streets of Shaheen Bagh. The wisdom which is capable of finding out the terrible provisions against the minorities in NRC, ignoring the fact that the draft of NRC may not even be seen by the government itself.
The gang also wants that the public, especially the youth, should not see the real picture and understand the fact that this ordinance which these intellectuals are projecting as ‘against’ interfaith marriages is actually not against these marriages but the marriages where the male partner fails to prove that the conversion of the woman was not for marriage or by use of force, allurement etc.
Fake Narratives vs. Ordinance (UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance-2020)
1- Narrative- Yogi has brought an ordinance on love-jihad.
Truth- Love-Jihad is not mentioned anywhere in the ordinance. The name of the ordinance is ‘Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Bill 2020’
2- Narrative- This ordinance is against Interfaith Marriages.
Truth- The ordinance makes it mandatory for couples, belonging to different faiths, to take permission from the District Magistrate of their respective districts. For this, a notice of 2 months will have to be given before marriage. This means it is not against interfaith marriages but provides a mechanism to follow if a couple wants to solemnise an interfaith marriage.
3- Narrative- If you marry in a different religion, you will be put in jail.
Truth- If you get married by hiding the identity, then the legal case will be imposed. In case of deceit or forcible conversion of a minor girl or woman belonging to a scheduled caste / tribe, the guilty will have to face a sentence of three to ten years.
4- Narrative – This ordinance considers conversion of one’s own will to be a crime
Truth- If the process of conversion is done forcibly or by practicing any kind of inducement, this will treated as offense. The ordinance includes a provision to void a marriage if it is formalised primarily to convert a woman’s religion. It also provides legal remedies to the victims of mass conversion processes.
In a line, the plan of this gang is that you play on the back-foot, they keep laying a trap of narratives and you spend all your energies in cutting that trap.
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