Over a hundred former Indian officials wrote an open letter Wednesday urging the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, to repeal a law against the forced religious conversion of women, popularly known as the “Love Jihad” law.

The signatories claimed the law was divisive and discriminatory against Indian Muslims, even though it refers to no particular religion. Defenders of the law denounced the letter as a cynical political stunt meant to slander Adityanath and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The “Love Jihad” law, formally known as the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, was enacted last month by India’s largest state. At least four other states have announced they are considering similar legislation. The law does not actually employ the term “jihad” or mention any religion in particular. It stipulates that men and women from different religions must give advance notice to the authorities before they get married, and must indicate two months in advance whether either of the newlyweds is planning to convert to the other’s religion. Conversion after marriage also requires two months of advance notice to the authorities.

A few smaller Indian states have laws against forced religious conversion dating back to the 1960s, but Uttar Pradesh is much larger than those jurisdictions, and its new ordinance is very aggressive. The UP law nullifies marriages if the bride is converted by force, imposes jail sentences on offenders, and makes the penalties more harsh if the woman is a minor or a member of certain ethnic groups or Indian castes. 

Critics say the UP law makes it too easy to accuse men of forcing their wives to convert, and too difficult for them to prove their innocence. 54 people have been arrested in the month since the law went into effect, and another 31 arrests are pending. State officials insist they are only taking action against serious examples of kidnapping and forced conversion, and are providing advice and counseling services to interfaith couples where no compulsion is evident.

The most determined critics of the law claim the entire problem of forced conversion is vastly overstated, denouncing the concept of “love jihad” (essentially, an organized plan by Muslims to bolster their numbers by seducing women from other faiths, luring them into marriage, and forcing them to covert) as a paranoid fantasy of Hindu nationalists. 

Critics view the current drive for legislation against forced conversion as a veiled slander against Muslims, who are most commonly accused of the practice, although Christians have been accused of mass conversions of Hindus in the past. Those allegations were also viewed as outbursts of Hindu nationalism by skeptics.

These arguments were advanced in the open letter signed by 104 retired Indian bureaucrats and diplomats on Wednesday, demanding the “illegal ordinance be withdrawn forthwith” by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — who is, as his name implies, a Hindu monk. Adityanath is also a major figure in the BJP and an outspoken Hindu nationalist.

“You can pose no greater threat to the nation than by turning its own citizens against one another, a conflict that can only serve the country’s enemies,” the signatories told Adityanath.

The letter blamed the “illegal” law for inspiring Hindu vigilantes and pushing Uttar Pradesh law enforcement into “a role reminiscent of the secret police in authoritarian regimes.”

The letter said Uttar Pradesh has “become the epicentre of the politics of hate, division and bigotry, and institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison.”

It accused Adityanath’s administration of committing “a series of heinous atrocities” against young Indians who are “simply seeking to live their lives as free citizens of a free country,” citing the example of a woman who suffered a miscarriage after her husband was accused of forcibly converting her.

“Does this not amount to effective murder of an unborn child and is the police force of your State, by their inaction, not complicit in this?” the signatories asked. “The entire police force of Uttar Pradesh needs to be trained without delay in respecting the rights of all citizens; and the politicians of UP, including yourself, need to re-educate yourselves about the provisions of the Constitution which you and other lawmakers have sworn to uphold.”

“These atrocities, regardless of indignation of Indians devoted to rule of law, continue unabated. The anti-conversion ordinance… is being used as a stick to victimize especially those Indian men who are Muslim and women who dare to exercise their freedom of choice,” the letter said.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh defended the anti-conversion law on Wednesday: 

“The practice of mass conversions should stop,” Singh said. “As far as I know, in the Muslim religion, one cannot marry someone from another religion. I personally do not approve of conversion for marriage.”

“In many cases, you may have seen that the religious conversion is being done forcefully and sometimes it is done under greed. Natural marriage and forceful conversion for marriage has a big difference and I think governments which made these laws have considered all these things,” he said.

An advisor to Chief Minister Adityanath told Reuters on Wednesday that the letter was a “publicity stunt,” noting that it was never actually sent to the government before it was made public.