India, Feb. 15 -- On a day when the world celebrates demonstrations of love, the Maharashtra government on February 14 set up a committee under state police chief Rashmi Shukla that has been tasked with preparing a draft for a law "to prevent love jihad and fraudulent or forced conversions".

The state government's main aim behind the decision, according to a government officer, is "to control Hindu girls getting married to Muslim men". Love jihad is a controversial term used by Hindu nationalists who believe that Muslim men are luring Hindu women to marry them and convert them to Islam in a bid to take over the country.

According to a government resolution (GR) issued on Friday, which was also Valentine's Day, the decision to set up the...