The Right to Love null and void

Be it the theatrics on the silver screen or family strife in real life — a woman choosing her own partner is never a smooth process. Since the woman is “sent off” to join a new family, her new household should ideally be determined by the family of origin. But what if the “honour of the family” is compromised when the woman decides to marry outside her caste or religion? It looks like, if what is popularly known as the anti-conversion Bill (Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021), becomes an Act this conflict could be played out in police stations and courts not just within in the four walls of the house.

Shilpa Prasad

The question of who you want to marry and which religion you want to follow is a very intrinsic part of who you are. These choices concern the decisional autonomy of a person and should be made without the intervention of the state. Any law that denies the right to religion and privacy to a person is unconstitutional.

The anti-conversion Bill has come in the context of growing violence against interfaith couples. Many couples have been harassed and morally policed in Karnataka. This act will provide a fiat to the ongoing harassment and the violence faced by them.

Women have always been subject to various societal norms and are forced to abide by the wishes of their parents and society or to suffer severe consequences. The Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 undermines the agency of individuals, particularly women of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Converting just for the purpose of marriage has been made a crime, and the individual can be punished for the duration of three years for exercising a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution of our country.

The process of converting for women has been made especially difficult, for they are legally subjected to the wishes of their families and the state. Section 5 of this Bill criminalises those who convert minors, people with an unsound mind, and women belonging to the SC and ST community. They can be punished for up to 10 years and fined Rs 50,000. The state is essentially stating that women of the SC and ST community are incapable of making decisions for themselves. This is grossly paternalistic and unconstitutional. Women have the right to autonomy and choice, to be making decisions of marriage and religion for themselves.

Moreover, the Bill allows any person who is aggrieved to make a complaint regarding alleged unlawful conversion, meaning the law has now armed people with the tools to harass interfaith couples.

(Shilpa Prasad is an advocate with the All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice.)

(As told to Aditi Subramanian.)