Love Jihad: My Take

'Love Jihad' is an interesting term. I must say that when I first came across this term (and came to know that the term has been coined by a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Leader), I thought that they mean that we should spread love and not hatred. Only later, after a post-mortem by the media, I understood the real meaning. I was surprised and must say….somewhat embarrassed.

I support BJP but I do not like all BJP leaders. I believe in Narendra Modi as a leader/visionary and that is the only reason why I support BJP. There are some more leaders like Subramanian Swamy and Arun Jaitley, whom I like but I still ‘suspect’ the ‘others’. When I understood the meaning of ‘Love Jihad’, I felt that it is an unnecessary attempt by a section of BJP, which tries to please the voters who have a ‘communal bend of mind’. I hate that section of BJP. Then Subramanian Swamy started talking against ‘Love Jihad’ and that made me take it seriously!!! (I agree with him on most points)

I came across some more facts about what is actually going on. There are indeed a lot of reports about Muslim boys marrying Hindu girls and then trying to force their religion on the girl. There have been confessions from Muslim boys that they were asked to lure Hindu girls to marry them and then try to convert the girls. Following is an interesting bit that I read somewhere about the ‘AGENDA’ (as per the confession of a Muslim boy);

• If 1 Muslim boy marries 1 Hindu girl and has 6 children, India would become a country with Muslim majority in 40 year
• If 1 Muslim boy marries 2 Hindu girls and has 6 children with each of them, India would become a country with Muslim majority in 24 years

I am not sure about the assumptions in the calculations above or the accuracy of the calculations. However, as per the Muslim boy, this is what they are being preached and are being asked to follow!!! They are being asked to have more children and if possible with Hindu girls. That way the Muslim population would grow faster and a check can be put on the growth of Hindu population. Again, I am not sure if this is an actual confession or a made-up story but if someone wants to convert India into a Muslim dominated country, then the approach makes absolute sense!!!

As per the relevant (who spoke against ‘Love Jihad’) BJP Leaders, they are concerned about the above-mentioned agenda and that is what they want to stop/control. The whole ‘Love Jihad’ controversy picked up steam when some cases supporting the arguments of these BJP Leaders were reported in the media.

I must say that I am not sure about how they of want to solve this ‘menace’. Or rather, how they define this problem? Following are some of the definitions of ‘Love Jihad’ that I have come across so far (it is a list of scenarios which have been termed as ‘Love Jihad’ by various (not collectively) BJP leaders;

1. Muslim boy marries a Hindu girl
2. Muslim boy marries a  Hindu girl and then the Hindu girl willingly converts to Islam
3. Muslim boy marries a Hindu girl and then the Hindu girl is forced to convert to Islam
4. Muslim boy portrays himself as Hindu and then marries a Hindu girl. Hindu girl accepts the marriage but does not convert to Islam
5. Muslim boy portrays himself as Hindu and then marries a Hindu girl. Hindu girl accepts the marriage and willingly converts to Islam
6. Muslim boy portrays himself as Hindu and then marries a Hindu girl. Hindu girl is later forced to convert to Islam

My opinion is that 3 and 6 are clearly wrong and should be considered as criminal offence. At the same time, 4 and 5 should be condemned as the relationship started with a lie. However, if the girl and her family do not have an issue with 4 and 5, then everyone else should mind their own business.

So if the solution that they are contemplating is to not allow Muslim boys from marrying Hindu girls, then it is truly insane. It is against the freedom of choice. We should not become a Hindu version of ISIS (now IS) or Taliban. At the same time, we should not completely ignore this issue.

My take is that I do believe that there is an ‘agenda’. As I mentioned earlier, I am not sure about the calculations but the approach mentioned in the agenda makes complete sense (from the point of view of Love-Jihadists). The government and the society must be aware of such threats as it is indeed happening. Several parts of India have already become Muslim-dominated in the past few decades. That is not a problem per se. However, if someone is planning that demographic change in order to later leverage that, it can turn into a massive issue. We have already seen issues in Saharanpur. Everyone should be aware of such threats and such agendas. At the same time, I really do not want to see people stopping Muslim boys from marrying Hindu girls - when there is no hidden agenda. We must be little open-minded and accommodating.

There is a difference between Jihadists/IS/Taliban/Pakistan and us. It is important that the difference is maintained.

Pic Source: http://about.me/jimmyspencerjr