![]() Shameem and Sagar knew they were going against public opinion, especially in their rural village. An even larger proportion of Indian Muslims said the same about Muslim women. T he Pew Research Center recently found roughly two-thirds of Hindus in India want to prevent Hindu women from marrying outside their faith. Opinion polls show most Indians want to marry within their own religion, and they want their neighbors to do the same. "But I just knew this law would fuel hatred and intolerance." "Why is that good Hindu girl dating a Muslim?" "Neither of us was even thinking of converting religions," Shameem explains. ![]() Human rights activists hold placards during a demonstration condemning proposed laws against "love jihad" in various states led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, in Bengaluru, India, on Dec. Its chief minister, the equivalent of a state's governor, is a Hindu priest who's a close ally of India's prime minister. With some 220 million people, Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state - bigger than all but a handful of countries. Then last November, their state of Uttar Pradesh became the first in the nation to pass legislation to protect a bride or groom from being coerced to convert to their new spouse's religion. The plan was to graduate college, get good jobs and win their parents' acceptance. They flirted between practice exams - his for a government job, hers for the police force. Sagar and Shameem met four years ago, at a test prep center in their hometown. In today's India - where Hindu conservatives hold sway - it not only complicates their wedding plans, but leaves them ostracized and vulnerable to attack by extremists. ![]() And their different religions make them even more of a rarity. Sagar and Shameem's is a love marriage, in a country where most unions are arranged by families. But more than half a dozen of India's 29 states have introduced laws banning the use of marriage to push someone into converting. India's Supreme Court has rejected the theory. ![]()
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