Love jihad is a term used by right-wing activists and outfits to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has formed a seven-member committee to examine the legal framework for a potential law against forced religious conversions and cases of “love jihad”. The panel, headed by the state Director General of Police (DGP), includes senior officials from women and child welfare, minority affairs, law and judiciary, social justice, special assistance and home departments.
According to a Government Resolution (GR), the committee will study the prevailing situation in the state and suggest steps to tackle the complaints of “love jihad” and forced conversions. The committee will also look at legal aspects and the laws framed in other states and recommend legislation to prevent such cases.
“Love jihad” is a term used by right-wing activists and outfits for interfaith marriages to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.
“Various organisations and citizens in the state have submitted requests for enacting a law to prevent love jihad and fraudulent or forced conversions. Several states in India have already implemented laws to address these issues,” the GR stated.
BJP leader and state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said that “love jihad” cases were increasing across the country and therefore the governments must act to prevent them. “Shraddha Walkar was brutally murdered by Aftab Amin. Rupali Chandanshive was killed by Iqbal Sheikh. Poonam Kshirsagar was murdered by Nizam Khan. Yashashree Shinde from Uran was killed by Dawood Sheikh. Sonam Shukla from Malad tragically lost her life at the hands of Shahjib Ansari. How can one claim that love jihad is not happening when such incidents are evident before us? It is a serious issue, and the state government is working towards preventing such incidents,” the minister said.
However, the move has invoked sharp criticism from the opposition leaders, who claimed the BJP-led government is trying to interfere in people’s personal choices. NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule said, “I request the government to focus on real issues. Prime Minister Narendfra Modi just returned from the US, and America has imposed new tariffs, which will impact our country. The government should pay attention to such matters and focus on the economic situation.”
Samajwadi Party leader and Bhiwandi (East) MLA Rais Shaikh said that the government lacks statistical evidence to support claims of forced conversions and is politicising the issue by labelling it as “jihad”. He said, “Earlier, the government proposed a law claiming there were over one lakh cases of love jihad in the state, but they failed to find a single instance where a police case could be filed. There is no data to back up such claims, and I raised this concern in the assembly. The government is merely politicising the issue.”
Congress leader Husain Dalwai said that the government doesn’t have the right to decide who marries who. “Democracy allows everyone to follow any religion. Our country is secular, but some people want to destroy the fabric of our culture. Let them show how many cases of love jihad they have actually seen. These people want to bring Hitler’s culture into our country,” the Congress leader said.
Rubbishing the claims of “love jihad” Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra president Abu Asim Azmi accused the government of curtailing the freedom of people. “Our Muslim boys and girls are also converting to Hinduism and marrying Hindus, and even Hindu boys and girls are marrying Muslims. This is a right granted by the Constitution,” he said.
