The research article “Love Jehad: Loving for Religion” authored by S Gurumurthy in which he proved that love marriages are being used for Islamization of non-Islamic nations has given rise to a call by a senior RSS ideologue in Kerala for close cooperation between Hindus and Christians.
“While Love Jehad is a reality and is an ingredient for Islamization of non-Islamic countries, the same could not be said about Christianity which has been always in synchronization with civil rights, democracy and personal freedom. It is time for the spiritual leaders of Hinduism and Christianity to work together for minimizing the impact of Love Jehad, so as to bring down the intensity of religious fanaticism,” said K R Umakanthan, managing editor, Janmabhumi, the RSS mouthpiece.
Umakanthan’s take has been widely welcomed by the Christian Church which itself is at the receiving end of Love Jihad in the state of Kerala. Christian Association for Social Action, un umbrella organization of major Church sects have been alerting the Centre as well as State Governments that Christian girls are being subjected to Love Jehad as well as sending them away to fight as jihadis in Islamic
State. “Situation is really grave and beyond all expectations,” said K T Thomas, former Supreme Court judge. He said he was all praise for the legislation enacted by the Uttar Pradesh Government banning Love Jihad as well as Love Marriage for Islamization.
“There are certain formalities to be observed when a Muslim man marries a non-Muslim woman. The same is the case with all kinds of inter-religious marriages. Provisions of the Special Marriage Act should be observed and followed diligently and no compromise should be made on this issue,” said Justice Thomas, known for his uncompromising stance on laws and Constitution.
Gurumurthy in his research paper, with input collected from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and even from studies held by Harvard University has warned of the dangerous trend of communal polarization as a result of Love Jehad. “There are hundreds of instances of families getting destroyed and communities getting polarized. The situation is deadly and explosive,” writes Gurumurthy.
He has quoted the studies by Prof Philippe Fargues, sociologist and demographer of the European University Institute, who through his pathbreaking research established how Islamic nations have been Islamising through love and marriage. “They had used coercion in the remote past. Right now they use love as a tool,” said Prof Fargues.
This is not the first time a call for close cooperation between Christian and Hindu religions has been made, pointed out T G Mohandas, RSS ideologue. “Prof Joseph Pulikkunnel, the chief editor of theological magazine was alive he had held discussions with RSS leaders. But the sudden demise of Prof Pulikkunnel resulted in a stalemate,” said Mohandas.
Kevin Peter, president, CASA, told The Pioneer that his organization as well as major sects in the Church were totally against religious conversion of any kind. “Over the years, we have understood that the Christian girls are under threat from Love Jihad and we have to counter it. If a close cooperation between us and the Hindus would lead to a peaceful solution, we are for that. We are already in close cooperation with various helplines to save girls belonging to Hindu and Christian communities from distress,” said Peter.
