On March 8, 2026,  the Maharashtra Cabinet cleared the Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 2026, a Bill proposing rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh for unlawful religious conversions.
The proposed law is the latest in a series of similar pieces of legislation enacted by BJP governments in states over the last eight years, often with the stated goal of curbing forcible conversion and marriage of Hindu women, described as “love jihad”.
Earlier, on March 6, 2026, the Maharashtra State government approved the “Freedom of Religion” Bill to crack down on religious conversion through marriage, or what certain right-wing organizations call “love jihad”, though the law recognizes no such terminology. This bill aims to stop “love jihad,” where it is believed that Muslim men are luring Hindu women to convert them to Islam through marriage.

The Freedom of Religion Bill makes such an interfaith marriage a cognizable, non-bailable offence if the couple’s families object to the marriage, as it implies “conversion by force and allurement”. A cognizable offence carries a minimum prison sentence of seven years, whereas states such as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have mandated a sentence of 10 years under their “love jihad” laws.
What are the special conditions imposed by this law to prevent Love Jihad marriages?”
•    The interfaith couple must get the marriage cleared by the district collector as well as their respective families.
•    The Hindu woman must also give 60 days’ notice before converting to Islam. 
•    The couple must confirm that there is no objection from their respective families.
•    Conversion must be registered within 25 days; otherwise, the marriage will become null and void.
•    Any person who induces, deceives, or coerces another person into converting from one religion to another will face imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of ₹1 lakh if found guilty.
•    Marriage conducted with the intention of illegal religious conversion may be declared void by a court.
Why did they introduce this, Bill?
    Several Hindu girls are missing across the country. So many stories are being circulated about the entrapment of Hindu girls to get married and finally force them to accept Islam. Speaking at the press conference, some Hindu girls said that Muslim youths initially befriend them and gradually develop closeness through polite and affectionate behavior. Later, they assure them, saying, “If you marry me, you will not have to convert to Islam. You will not even have to wear a burqa. You will live happily like a queen.”
“They tried to influence us with sweet talk and gradually manipulate our thoughts. Their words created resentment in our minds towards our parents and family members. However, we later realized that it was all a deception. Eventually, we managed to free ourselves from the ‘Love Jihad’ trap,” said the girls, while expressing their anguish.
An Uttar Pradesh court has said that ‘love jihad’ poses a serious threat to the country and apprehended ‘’foreign funding’’ in engineering religious conversions as it sentenced a Muslim man, who was accused of marrying a Hindu woman by hiding his religious identity, to life imprisonment. ‘’The country will face serious consequences if illegal religious conversions through love jihad are not stopped,’’ he remarked.
‘’It’s a matter of attempted illegal religious conversion through love jihad.... In love jihad, the Muslim men target Hindu women by hiding their religious identity... Love jihad requires large amounts of money, and so foreign funding can’t be ruled out. “Said the judge.
Since 2017, nine states have passed laws regulating religious conversion — Jharkhand (2017), Uttarakhand (2018), Himachal Pradesh (2019), Uttar Pradesh (2020), Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (2021), Haryana and Karnataka (2022), and Rajasthan (2025). 
The Central government should examine the seriousness of Love Jihad, how Hindu girls are being trapped, converted to Indla, how they are being raped and forced to live in secrecy.