Survey of US Indians shows that belief in conversion after marriage is strong among Christians and Muslims

The issue of Love Jihad is controversial for three reasons: one, it seems like a pejorative label; two, it erases the line separating genuine inter-faith marriages from those where one of the purposes of marriage is to achieve conversion of the spouse to one’s own religion; three, it reeks of a patriarchal view of love and marriage.

Let us thus deal with all three objections. Instead of Love Jihad can we call this Conversion Pressure in Marriage, or Conversion Pressure in Marriage and Love. But that would be hated by the Left, since the abbreviation would end up as CPIM or CPIML. So, let’s prefix an R, which would make it RCPIM – Religious Conversion Pressure in Marriage.

A 2026 survey by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Indian Americans in a Time of Turbulence) tells us that RCPIM is to be expected if one partner is Christian or Muslim. It is less likely with Hindus and those with no religious affiliation. While the survey asked a lot of questions about Indian Americans’ views on Donald Trump, their preferences for the Democrats or Republicans, or their view of Zohran Mamdani, the New York Mayor, the question that should interest us the most is the one which asked:

“Do you agree that it is reasonable to expect one's spouse to convert to one's own religion?”

This question bothered Indian Americans the most, for it came to the fore when Vice-President JD Vance expressed the hope that his Hindu wife, Usha, will one day embrace Christianity. While this statement is widely read as his attempt to curry favour with the Christian Right who look at Usha as an interloper in their Christian country, it raised hackles all around in the Indian community.

But here’s the result: Among Hindus and those with no religious affiliation the rejection of conversion after marriage is rejected by more than three-quarters of the sample surveyed. Hindus said no 77 percent and those without religious affiliation 75 percent.

But this should be no surprise: Among Indian Christians, 43 percent said it would be okay to seek a conversion of the spouse, and among Muslims it was 57 percent.

This is consistent with the fact that both Christianity and Islam seek conversions, and true believers often have to affirm that theirs is the only true religion. So why should spouses be left out of the process of conversion?

The survey also highlights another reality: Hindus are the ones most willing to believe in letting spouses retain their religions.

Now, go figure which community is most religiously liberal? If Indian Muslims and Christians who have migrated or settled in America can still believe that conversion should follow marriage in large numbers, why would that same attitude not prevail in more conservative Indian Christians and Muslims in India?

RCPIM is a substantial reality in India.

(Note: The answer to the question on conversion after marriage comes at the very end of the Carnegie survey of Indian Americans. So, read till the end)