SP Demands Scrapping of Love Jihad Committee Set Up by Maharashtra Government

Mumbai: The Samajwadi Party has demanded scrapping of the committee set up for ‘Love Jihad’ cases in Maharashtra accusing the BJP minister of misleading the state on the issue. There have only been 402 cases of interfaith marriages in the state in one year, as against the hefty claims made by the BJP minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha of over one lakh such cases, claimed the SP MLA Rais Shaikh.

According to him, the former Women and Child Development (WCD) minister Mangal Prabha Lodha made false claims on the matter to defame the minority community and create a rift between communities.

“Minister Lodha had claimed that there were more than one lakh cases of love jihad. However, I have received information on record from the government that the committee has received only 402 complaints so far. These complaints include not just two particular communities but other communities as well,” Shaikh said in his letters to Dy CM Ajit Pawar and WCD Minister Aditi Tatkare.

The ‘Interfaith Marriage Family Coordination Committee’ was set up on December 13, 2022, by then WCD minister Lodha to track cases of ‘Love Jihad.’ While speaking in the Vidhan Sabha in March 2023, he had said, “Maharashtra had more than one lakh cases of love jihad which has upset society.”

Moreover, Shaikh has also written to Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rahul Narwekar requesting the government to clarify the factual status of ‘Love Jihad’ cases in the House.

“The then WCD Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha claimed in the legislature on March 8, 2023, that there were one lakh cases of Love Jihad in the state. However, the information provided to me by the WCD department under RTI showed that the Committee did not receive a single complaint till March 20, 2023. Hence, the government should clarify the facts in the House in this matter,” said Shaikh in his letter to Narwekar.

A GR issued by the WCD department in this regard had said the committee will gather details about couples in interfaith marriages. The committee will get in touch with the couple's respective families to inquire if they are in contact. If the girl is not in touch with her family, the committee will get in touch with them and if the parents are opposed to the marriage they shall be counselled, said the GR.