According to a report by India Today on 27 February 2021, Uttar Pradesh"s BJP Chief Minister claims that
the November 2020 law brought in by his government against the alleged practice of "love jihad" is not anti-Muslim and is applicable to people of all religions. ("Love
‚ jihad" is a term used by Hindu nationalists to refer to the alleged practice of Muslim men forcing Hindu girls to convert to Islam through marriage.)
Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research considers the chief minister"s statements to be misleading: "On the one hand he is speaking the truth when he claims that the law is not officially aimed at Muslims - others (including Christians) are affected as well. But on the other hand, he hides the fact that Hindus in Uttar Pradesh regard the Muslim population as a huge threat. According to
World Christian Database statistics, Uttar Pradesh has a population of 228,306,000, 70% of whom are Hindu and 0.25% Christian. The percentage of Muslims is not given, but the
World Factbook states that 14.2% of Uttar Pradesh"s population is Muslim. If these estimates are correct, there are more than 50 times as many Muslims in Uttar Pradesh than Christians. Thus, from a statistical point of view, it is only logical to state that the anti-conversion laws are particularly aimed at the Muslim population. Interestingly, since Mr Adityanath became Chief Minister in March 2017, religious violence by radical Hindus has skyrocketed, again mostly targeting Muslims."
