Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday said her Ministry had not received any official complaint relating to ‘love jehad’, but as an MP she had been apprised of a few such cases in her constituency, Pilibhit.
Asked about the issue of ‘love jehad’, Maneka, who was addressing a Press conference on 100 days of her Ministry’s achievements, said, “We have had no official complaint in the Ministry.”“However, as a Member of Parliament, in my constituency people have come and complained to me and there have been about seven to eight such cases which we have referred to the police,” she added.
The concept of ‘love jehad’, which saw a resurgence in India earlier this year has sparked controversy among India’s politicians as it poses a threat to religious cohesion.A number of reports of women being forced to convert to Islam in India have provoked controversy, largely because the allegations have been supported by certain Hindu nationalists. Some just call it a propaganda created by certain political parties for political mileage.
A section of the BJP alleges that ‘love jehad’ is an alleged activity under which young Muslim boys and men reportedly target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion by feigning love.BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, who was entrusted with party’s campaign for the September 13 by-polls in UP, which the BJP eventually lost, has been raising the issue of ‘love jehad’, in his pre-poll speeches.
More recently, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj had invited a lot of ire from across sections when he said Madrasas were “hubs of terror” providing an “education in terrorism”, where love jehad flourishes. He claimed that a Muslim youth in a madrasa is offered a reward of Rs11 lakh for an ‘affair’ with a Sikh girl, Rs10 lakh for a Hindu girl and Rs7 lakh for a Jain girl.
The Samajwadi Party termed Maharaj’s comments as “hate speech” and accused him of creating communal divisions. Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh at a press conference on Monday had denied knowledge of existence of a targeted ‘love jehad’ campaign.