Join us for a discussion on how India’s “love jihad” laws are restricting interfaith marriage and women’s rights.About this Event
About the Talk
In India, Hindu nationalists are curtailing women's rights through accusations that Muslim men are engaged in "love jihad"--a conspiracy to convert women into Muslims by seduction. The new laws in various Indian states penalize interfaith marriage between Muslims or Christians and Hindus. Some states require notifying the government of religious conversion 60 to 90 days in advance. Other regulations assume that marriage with a woman or minority community member who has converted is under coercion.
These laws allow family members to file complaints about voluntary marriages, leading to arrests and government harassment. These laws assume that women have no agency and are only involved in interfaith marriage because they have been manipulated. Many families are willing to use the new laws to stop their daughters from entering a marriage that hasn't been family approved. This discussion will look at the new laws and how they are being implemented to restrict women's rights in India.
Doors will open no sooner than 15 minutes before the start time.
The Elliott School can coordinate with the university to reasonably accommodate most disabilities. If you need specific accommodations, please contact the Sigur Center at [email protected]. Requests should be made as soon as possible, but at least three days prior to the program to ensure accommodation.
About the Speaker
Rollie Lal is a Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, where she teaches graduate courses on Transnational Security, the Security Capstone, and Security and Religion. She is also Co-chair of the Global Affairs and Religion Network (GARNET). Her research focuses on organized crime, terrorism, religious extremism, human rights, China, South Asia, and other areas. Previously, Dr. Lal was Associate Professor at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Dr. Lal also served as Assistant Professor at the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Gent, Belgium, and St. Petersburg, Russia, where she taught MBA courses on international business management and risk analysis. From 2002–06, Dr. Lal was a political scientist at RAND, where she performed research and analysis on a wide spectrum of economic and security issues. She is the author of several books, including Terrorist Criminal Enterprises, Understanding China and India, Central Asia and Its Asian Neighbors, Iran's Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities, and The Muslim World After 9/11. She was a correspondent for the Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun in the 1990s and has published articles in other newspapers, including The Financial Times and The New York Times. Dr. Lal received her Ph.D. in International Relations and her M.A. in Strategic Studies and International Economics from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and her B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Event venue
Chung-Wen Shih Asian Studies Conference Room, 1957 East Street Northwest, Washington, United States
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