Demystifier: ED Original where the content is written in such a way that it is knowledgeable and easy to comprehend at the same time.
This is a country of old men, indeed.
So, in 2016 IAS topper Tina Dabi decided to get married to her boyfriend, Athar Aamil-ul Shafi Khan, who stood at rank two. But of course, something as trivial as this is a problem in a country like India. Because she is a Hindu, and he is a Muslim. Clearly.
The Hindu Mahasabha have declared this union to come under the umbrella of a much larger conspiracy of “Love Jihad” and even suggested Khan’s ghar wapasi.
Instead of acting in a sane manner and perhaps sending good wishes for the couple, the organisation sent over a letter to the family trying to convince them that this marriage should be stopped.
While it was funny to watch the frenzy this couple had created within extremist groups from both sides, we should not forget how dangerous that objection to their marriage is.
They are people of considerable authority, still, the Mahasabha had the audacity to send a letter and raise its objection.
What if it was people like you and me? Where would we have found security?
This raises an interesting thought that perhaps “Love Jihad” is by far the most successful conspiracy. Let us demystify how that is so.
What is it exactly?
Well, as simple as the term goes, love jihad is about young Muslim men enticing young Hindu women to marry them. Soon after, they forcibly convert these women to accept Islam.
“The term ‘Love Jihad’ is a combination of the English word ‘Love’ and the Arabic word ‘Jihad’. ‘Love’ here is meant for accomplishing the objective of ‘Jihad’ and hence, is deceptive. ‘Jihad’ is a war declared by Jihadis against those who do not believe in Islam, with an objective of establishing Islamic rule. In general it can be summarised that ‘Love Jihad’ is a war declared by Jihadis against Hindus and Christians through the medium of deceptive love.’ History stands as evidence of this.“
This is how the Hindu Jagruti Samiti describes it. Have to ask, History stands as evidence of what? The only evidence that history ever has is how countries and kingdoms have been destroyed in the name of religious fanaticism.
And wait, they accuse Muslim rulers of taking child brides. Wasn’t child marriage the norm back then? Please don’t give us these illogical reasons behind “love jihad”. Only shows how ill-informed one can be about history.
Read More: Here’s How You Can Stop Love Jihad From Happening
How does the conspiracy work?
So, here is the entire layout of the carefully drafted conspiracy.
1. A book by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti titled Love Jihad takes examples from numerous instances (which are never cited) from Muslim rulers who practiced atrocities on Hindu women – raping them, forcibly marrying them, and all other inhuman examples of violence.
The most important fallacy in this argument is – what about the lower caste women who were supposed to be sexually available to those Hindu rulers? Who will speak for them? Why aren’t they ever brought to this argument of “atrocities on Hindu women”? And, ahem, what about AFSPA?
2. The most laughable claim – ISI is behind films that inspire “Love Jihad”. Listen up, folks! ISI follows policies that are anti-Indian, not anti-Hindu.
More laughable – all this funding was through Dawood Ibrahim. Really? You could at least have been original in this. Hey, come on! I was expecting Abdul Basit.
3. They also argue that Love Jihad was the only reason why Kamala Das converted to Islam. First question, do they even know who Kamala Das is?
Kamala Das willfully converted to Islam because she found peace in it. There was no threat to her life. She only found a new life in Islam. You can’t even escape to Mars now. These extremists boast of Mangalyaan.
How did it begin?
In 2009, the concept of Love Jihad surfaced in news websites when Kerala Bishops’ Organisation alleged that 4,500 girls in Kerala had been targeted, whereas the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had claimed that 300,000 girls had been abducted in Karnataka. The saga began, thus.
If the claims were true against a forced union of Muslim men and Hindu/Christian women, a complaint should have been filed. Instead, these complaints from the side of Hindus went directly to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. There was no legal route that was followed. I don’t know if those complainants knew about the legislative system that exists in the country.
Is the state tackling this issue?
Yes and no.
After the entire love jihad controversy erupted, the Karnataka government announced its decision to counter the problem instead of investigating the cases of violence against inter-religious marriages.
The Kerala Police even went so far as to investigate the Shri Ram Sena and their presence, however, they could not really find any evidence of ‘love jihad’ as an organisation.
The police did suspect the presence of foreign aid to lure young Hindu and Christian women, but there has been no proof of that too.
In January 2012, the Kerala police declared it as a campaign with no substance and instead booked the website hindujagruti.org for spreading religious hatred.
We are living in dangerous times. Our lives are constantly being brought under the scanner for reasons that are too ridiculous to spell out. Who decides what religion one should follow? Our birth to a religion is a mere accident. The rest of the journey is for us to choose.
Who will speak against those extremist groups which do not understand the difference between consensual relations and marital rape? I was born a Hindu, but no Hindu has the right over my body. I will not barter myself to serve these lofty political claims of “protecting Hindu women”. I don’t want to be protected by a group whose leader does not understand rape.
At the same time, nobody can order me what religion to convert to. My decision to follow a religion, or not follow any is my choice.
More immediate action has to be taken to assess if there is any forced religious conversion (which is certainly not happening) and maximum security should be provided to inter-religious couples in case they face any threat.
We hope that Tina Dabi and Athar Aamil-ul Shafi Khan do something about this conspiracy soon.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: India Today, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Hindustan Times
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Your article is just a bull shit. If u don’t follow Hinduism, then u can’t respect other religion. Only Hinduism gives one liberty to respect others religion also… If u follow Islam, then 5 times a day,, u will bow ur ass on hearing ajaan, in which maulana says ” Only Allah is greatest,, other religions are fake “… N u know what,,, only girls like u get deceived by love jihad,, coz u just don’t know anything about ur religion… Neither u worship Ram Ji, nor ur parents told u to do so… Only Hinduism is the way, by which one can be the best human… Who loves each n every creature, created by God.. Now get lost..