Life imprisonment in 'love jihad' cases, another law on 'land jihad' in works: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that his government will soon bring a law for life sentence in cases of 'love jihad'. His statement came less than a week after the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh passed a Bill amending the 2021 anti-conversion law.

He said that the issue of 'love jihad' is a serious one involving forced conversions and deceitul romantic relationships. "We spoke about love jihad during the elections. It is a real and serious issue, involving forced conversions and deceitful romantic relationships. In the next few days, we aim to take steps to make this punishable with a life sentence," Sarma said. 

The Yogi government made the law stricter by providing for a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The bill is aimed at preventing conversions through coercion, deceit or under the guise of marriage. It also mandates strict penalties, including potential imprisonment and hefty fines, for those found guilty of violation. 

Besides this, Sarma also announced that the state government has made it mandatory to take the consent of the chief minister regarding the sale of land between Hindus and Muslims. He said that the Assam government viewed 'land jihad' as a serious threat to the northeastern state's demography and had already reclaimed encroached areas through eviction campaigns. 

Furthermore, he added that the BJP is committed to protecting the rights of the indigenous people of the state. Sarma explained that there will be a new law to protect land in regions such as Barpeta, Majuli and Batadrava so only people from those places can purchase properties there. 

Himanta Biswa Sarma also mentioned that a land span equivalent to the size of Chandigarh was freed from encroachment by people from a particular community. 

Moreover, Sarma announced a new domicile policy for state government jobs, which will be introduced in keeping with the BJP's pre-poll promises. Under this policy, the mandatory eligibility criteria to get a state government job will be to be an Assamese-born person. 

He said that the state government has prioritised indigenous people in the "one lakh government jobs".