‘Love jihad’ cry back to haunt Karnataka

The recent row over a Hindu girl’s decision to marry a Muslim boy in Mandya has raised the bogey of “love jihad” once again in the state, with Hindutava groups strongly opposing the marriage despite the clarification by the families that the two have been in love for over 12 years.

Unwilling to let it go, the saffron brigade claims it is yet another instance of Hindu girls being wooed by Muslim boys and then abandoned after a few years of marriage all in the name of “love jihad”.

“These girls are taken to Ponnani in Kerala where they are converted to Islam and later harassed and even sold to the highest bidder,” they allege.

But police officials here claim “love jihad” is merely a bogey to win support in the coastal region.

“It is true that a few Hindu girls marry Muslim boys and are converted to Islam. But we have not come across any of them of being harassed later. A simple marriage and conversion cannot be called love jihad. There are also cases of Muslim girls marrying Hindu boys converting to Hinduism,” said a police officer.