In Uttar Pradesh, India, an interfaith Hindu-Muslim couple was together in a market when they were approached by right-wing extremists. When the perpetrators discovered the woman was Hindu, they forced her to hit her boyfriend with slippers before he was detained.

Love Jihad — the idea that Muslim men purposely target Hindu women through coercion to convert them to Islam — has become an increasingly popular term used by right-wing Indian nationalists to attack Muslims, particularly those who follow the Hindutva ideology. Hindutva, which is often seen as the “illegitimate child of Hinduism,” preaches India should transform from a secular to an ethnoreligious state.

This is problematic for Indians of other religions, particularly Muslims, because Hindutva directly excludes their practices and beliefs. Strife between Hindus and Muslims has been a prominent issue in Indian politics since the partition of India and Pakistan. Events like the Jammu-Kashmir conflict, the destruction of the Babri Masjid and the Varanasi bombings have only increased division between the two groups.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, a party that often preaches Hindutva values, has been the ruling party in India since 2014. Narendra Modi, the current prime minister of India, has stayed silent while calls for a Muslim genocide in India increase. Even Indian Christians can’t escape the wrath of those calling for genocide, as a video depicting Hindu nationalists burning a large doll of Santa with the hashtag #ThankYouModiJi shows.

One of the many methods Hindutva nationalists use to attack Muslims has been the accusation of Love Jihad. Interfaith couples are often targeted in highly conservative districts of India, with the Muslim member of the couple usually being attacked.

Uttar Pradesh recently passed a law banning unlawful religious conversion through marriage. This law has become grounds for extremists to attack interfaith couples and have them detained. The woman who was forced to hit her boyfriend with slippers had to prove to the police that she was not being coerced into Islam, even though her family and other village members alleged that she was.

Other couples have been affected gravely by this law. Sagar and Shameen, an interfaith couple from Uttar Pradesh, fled to Delhi to avoid persecution for their marriage after the introduction of the new law. Raina and Mohammad, another interfaith couple, were stopped at their wedding by Lucknow police who cited the same law as justification against their consensual marriage.

Just in the last week of January, a Muslim man was detained for traveling with his Hindu wife. The woman, Sakshi Jain, had to convince the Indore police she was not coerced into the marriage.

As India’s religious communities become increasingly polarized, more states adopt the Love Jihad law, subjecting Muslim constituents to persecution. There is still hope though, as groups like Dhanak fight for marriage rights between Hindus and Indian religious minorities.

Hamza is a freshman in LAS.

[email protected]