It seems the ruling BJP is sliding fast into brinkmanship as it has once again raked up a hoax called ‘love jihad’. Notwithstanding the courts and the Union government do not formally recognise the term ‘love Jihad’, several BJP-ruled states are competing each other to take lead on this nonsensical issue while the country is still reeling under unprecedented economic recession and Covid-19 pandemic. The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has even adopted an ordinance to make inter-faith marriage a criminal act while the Haryana government has formed a three-member panel for the same purpose.
Social and political leaders and activists see the announcement of BJP-ruled states as a part of Hindutva agenda to tarnish the image of the second largest religious group in the country. They also see it as a diversionary and divisive tactics and also an attack on the rights of Hindu women enshrined in the Constitution. They said the need of the hour is to enact better laws to combat hate and bigotry as well as honour killing.
‘Love Jihad’ conspiracy theory is absurdly based on the premise that Muslim men are attempting to surreptitiously shift India’s demographic balance by converting Hindu women to Islam through marriage. But there is no empirical data to support their claim.
Former Union Minister for Minority Affairs, K Rehman Khan opined that the Hindutva forces in the country are in search of issues to tarnish the image of Muslims and create differences among Hindus and Muslims. “Love jihad is one such issue to scare and tarnish the image of Muslims”.
Speaking with Radiance Viewsweekly, Khan underlined that when a Muslim boy marries a Hindu girl, it is ‘love jihad’ and if a Hindu boy marries a Muslim girl, it is a ‘Ghar Wapasi’. He advised the community not to fall into the trap and ignore it because this has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims.
Seconding his views, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind also urged the community not to fall prey to their (communal forces) provocation as they want to provoke Muslims.
Engineer Mohammad Salim, Vice President of Jamaat, told Radiance Viewsweekly that Jamaat-Islami Hind considers it a non-issue as there is nothing like “love Jihad” which is being raked up with an intention to polarise the society and create animosity against Muslims and to defame the image of Islam and Islamic teachings.
The literal meaning of jihad is to struggle for justice and peace. Engineer Salim said it is highly objectionable to use an Islamic terminology – “Jihad” – which is a very pious word for struggle for justice and struggle against oppression, and which has nothing to do with interfaith marriages.
Till date the police, investigative agencies, and courts in many States and the country have stated that there is no such thing as ‘Love Jihad’. There is no proof that Muslim youth are hatching a conspiracy to convert Hindu women under the guise of love.
WHAT FEMALE ACTIVISTS TO SAY
Annie Raja, General Secretary National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), said the proposed move is in furtherance of the communally divisive ideology of the Sangh Parivar.
In conversation with Radiance, Ms Raja said the RSS is continuously trying to convert this democratic country into a Hindutva Rashtra.
“What we know is the country is being ruled by forces of Hindutva and Fascism and BJP works on the lead of RSS. Nowadays, such a communally surcharged situation has been created that if even someone tells a lie that a Muslim boy married a Hindu girl, people will believe it as happened with a girl from Rajasthan. There is a larger agenda behind this ‘love’ jihad’ bogey that we need to understand and devise a strategy to foil this conspiracy,” she added.
She also underlined that since Modi came to power; his government has introduced several other measures that target India’s minority Muslim community.
Speaking on similar lines, Rati Rao, who heads the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), told Radiance that the danger to Hindu girls and women is not from Muslim youth but from the BJP which is playing politics in the name of Hindus.
Asking why is a law not framed to end the caste system which has so deformed the Hindu religion, Ms Rao said such a law would be a lethal attack on the freedom of Hindu women and their Constitutional right to make their own decisions in life.
- S. Fathima Muzaffer, member All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said it is unfortunate that when the entire country is suffering from unprecedented economic downturn and Covid-19 pandemic, which is still not in control, where is the need for such a nonsensical law to be proposed?
She told Radiance that it is obvious that the Modi Government is absolutely not concerned about the country’s development or safety of its people but rather more worried about their caste and communal bigotry.
She warned that such laws instead of instilling fear will only create a rebel effect in the minds of Hindu women.
CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION
‘Love Jihad’ is a pejorative and communal term for inter-religious marriages, which has no basis in fact or law. The term ‘Love Jihad’ is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of ‘Love Jihad’ has been reported by any of the central agencies. However, two cases from Kerala involving interfaith marriages have been investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
According to All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice, the BJP’s statements go against the very essence of Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution, which recognise the fundamental right of an individual to equality, to live with dignity and to freely profess, practise and propagate religion, which cumulates in every individual’s right to love and marry a person of one’s choice.
The Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also underscores the fundamental importance of marriage as an incident of human liberty and states that the men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry.
The reply of the Minister of State Home Affairs, G. Krishna Reddy in Parliament on the question of ‘Love Jihad’ on February 4, 2020 may be recalled.
Reddy stated: “(a) to (c): Article 25 of the Constitution provides for the freedom to profess, practise and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health.”
Various courts, including the Kerala High Court and the Allahabad High Court, have upheld this view. Amid the noise of ‘love Jihad’ bogey, a division bench of Allahabad High Court, while quashing the FIR against a Muslim man filed by his Hindu father-in-law, observed that if law permits two people of same sex to live together, no one can object to relationship of two adults.
Earlier in 2018, Supreme Court’s judge, Justice DY Chandrachud, in his concurring judgment in Shafin Jahan vs. Ashokan K.M. & Ors. [(2018)16 SCC 368], popularly known as the ‘Hadiya judgment’ held that the right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to Article 21 of the Constitution.
A C Michael, a noted activist and former Member of Delhi Minorities Commission, underscored this kind of law that infringes upon fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India will not stand scrutiny of the Courts of Law in India.
“We are living in the times where same sex marriages are not considered immoral. We have also seen the times when marrying a person of different religion used to be found immoral? How can state control that?” Michael asked.
Rehman Khan has also warned that the proposed legislation to make a Muslim boy who marries a Hindu girl a criminal offence is a mockery of the Constitution and will tarnish the international image of our country.
“I am of the firm view that if at all any state government brings any such law, the Courts will strike it down as unconstitutional,” he added.
Engineer Salim pointed out that these sinister things are done to gain political power and to remain in power but it has been damaging the image of the country at international level.
As French-born philosopher, René Descartes described, “Conspiracy is the oxygen that keeps bankrupt regimes alive. Minus that, what one confronts is a miscellany of horrors, lies and incompetence.”
In order to foil the designs of communal forces, Jamaat leader suggests, “We need to have mass contact with genuine religious people that this kind of tactics is against the spirit of Indian culture and Indian religions and we should convince other political parties to counter this undemocratic political practice to divide the society.”
Leaders and activists have a word of advice to the government that instead of pursuing a communal agenda, it should take immediate steps to enact a law that would specifically cover the so-called ‘honour’ crimes as directed by the Supreme Court and against hate.