War Against Love: Bogey Of 바카라�Love Jihad바카라� Ignores Ways Of The Heart

Someone answered the call. After introducing myself, I asked if I could talk to Sajjad (name changed). A woman on the other side asked what it was about. The 바카라�love jihad case바카라�, I said. She hung up abruptly. I tried to reach him again, but the calls went unanswered. But just as I tried reaching out to others booked under cases of 바카라�love jihad바카라�, the phone rang again바카라�Sajjad was calling. He promptly asked, 바카라�What do you want now? Haven바카라�t you people destroyed my life already?바카라� After a little cajoling, he agreed to talk.

바카라�I was madly in love with a girl outside my religion, and so was she. That was my crime. We had been planning to get married for long. In 2020, some vigilante groups got to know about our relationship; they asked me to end the affair, and also informed the girl바카라�s family,바카라� Sajjad tells Outlook. The girl was immediately confined to her home and not allowed to step out. 바카라�In December that year, we eloped in the hope of getting married. But our happiness was short-lived. The right-wing vigilantes demanded my arrest. My family was dragged in. We finally had to return to our village in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh,바카라� he adds. Used extensively by right-wing Hindu groups, the term 바카라�love jihad바카라� denotes an alleged conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into marriage and religious conversion.

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Sajjad바카라�s miseries didn바카라�t end there. He was booked and sent to jail for over two months under the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020, following a complaint filed by the girl바카라�s family. The girl was also 바카라�pressured바카라� to validate the complaint against him, claims Sajjad. Meanwhile, she was married off to someone else. While narrating his ordeal, there was no anger for anyone. 바카라�While some Hindus were against us having an affair, there were others who supported me. As for me, it바카라�s not a Hindu-Muslim issue, but about a hatred for love. My Hindu lawyer refused to buckle under threats and monetary offers to stop fighting my case. I work as a driver for a Hindu family in Noida; they know about the cases against me and are very supportive,바카라� he adds.

All history has a prehistory

Today바카라�s narrative of 바카라�love jihad바카라� has its origins in 1920s colonial India, according to a paper published in EPW by Charu Gupta, an associate professor of history at the University of Delhi. 바카라�In Kanpur in 1924, a Muslim administrator was acc­used of 바카라�abducting and seducing바카라� a Hindu girl and forcing her to convert. A Hindu group dem­anded the woman바카라�s 바카라�rescue바카라� from the bureaucrat바카라�s home. The 바카라�fake바카라� claim by the Hindu right, that there is a 바카라�love jihad바카라� organisation that is forcing Hindu women to convert to Islam through false expressions of love, is similar to a campaign in the 1920s against alleged 바카라�abductions바카라�. Whether in the 1920s or in 2009, Hindu patriarchal notions appear deeply entrenched in such campaigns. Images of passive victimised Hindu women at the hands of inscrutable Muslims abound, and any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored,바카라� Charu Gupta writes.

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Gupta draws a parallel between 바카라�the tales in the 1920s and 2009바카라�, when Shahan Sha of Kerala was charged for forcibly abducting and converting Methula, a Hindu girl.  In both incidents, one of the arguments given by Hindu groups is that conversions of Hindu women are linked with rising Muslim numbers. A tract published in 1924 from Kanpur dwelt on the alleged decline of Hindu population due to increasing conversions of Hindu women to Islam. 바카라�It claimed that many Aryan women were entering the homes of yavanas and mlechhas (terms used for Muslims), producing (cow-killer) children, and increasing Muslim numbers,바카라� Gupta writes in the paper tit­led Hindu Women and Muslim Men: Love Jihad and Conversions.

The return of the beast

More recently, another case of alleged 바카라�love jihad바카라� that gained national traction was the marriage of Hadiya with Shafin Jahan. Born to Hindu parents in Vaikom in Kerala바카라�s Kottayam, Hadiya converted to Islam during her college days in Salem, much to the opposition of her father Asokan, who alleged the conversion was forceful. She married Shafin in December 2016. Her father바카라�s petition in the Kerala high court was pending, alleging there were plans to transfer her to Syria. When the high court learned that she had married Shafin, it dec­lared the marriage invalid and sentenced Hadiya to a women바카라�s hostel in Ernakulam. Fin­­ally, the Supreme Court granted her permission to complete her medical degree, and allowed her to meet anyone she wanted. Eventually, after a lengthy legal battle, the apex court also upheld their marriage on March 8, 2018. After the verdict, Shafin Jahan wrote a post on his Facebook page, accompanied by a photo of Hadiya in a doctor바카라�s coat and holding a stethoscope: 바카라�Finally, against all obstacles, you arrived at a significant destination. 바카라�I am proud to address you as a Doctor.바카라�

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The ballot of romance

Analysts believe that the 바카라�love jihad바카라� bogey was inv­oked바카라�바카라�Desh, bahu aur gai ko bachana hai바카라�,바카라� the war cry went바카라�to ignite communal flames during the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013. 바카라�When society could no longer bear the love of jihadists, a corrective movement바카라�bahu beti bachao mahapanchayat바카라�arose,바카라� VHP chairman Ashok Singhal had told the media then.

Gilles Verniers, assistant professor of Political Science at Ashoka University and co-director of the Trivedi Centre for Political Data, wrote in an article titled How the Muzaffarnagar polarisation strategy paid off for the BJP (and why it바카라�s being used again) that: 바카라�What is worrying is the potent mix of minority stigmatisation and concerns바카라�both legitimate and fantasised바카라�for the safety of women. Minor local incidents have been labeled as communal. This has been backed by baseless rumours aimed at blaming a single community for the threats to women.바카라� The BJP won 71 of the 78 seats it contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh. Now that Uttar Pradesh and other states in India are gearing up for a fresh round of assembly elections starting next month, love jihad and conversion issues have again come to dominate the political discourse.

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Photograph by Getty Images

Not just a Hindu-Muslim issue

Interestingly, the modern iteration of the canard of love jihad came neither from the Hindi 바카라�heartland바카라�, nor from the febrile imagination of Hindu vigilantes, but from the Catholic Church of Kerala in 2009. More recently, the Bishop of Palai, Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, accused the state바카라�s Muslim community of love and drug jihad to target Christians. A Delhi-based couple originally from Kerala asserted that while 바카라�love jihad바카라� as a political jargon is used to divide society for electoral dividends, the underlying cause of the problem has its roots embedded in patriarchy.

Asiya (name changed), who teaches at a University in Delhi college, says, 바카라�Our marriage does not fit in the larger love jihad narrative. However, as a Muslim woman married to a Christian man, my family has still not accepted us. My family assumes that I, as a woman, cannot choose to get married to a Christian. They believe my body and my existence is a repository of our collective (Muslim) honour, and anything against our religious sanction would bring dishonour to the family and community.바카라�

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Legislating to regulate the heart

On December 23, 2021, Karnataka became the latest BJP-ruled state to have passed a law to curb conversion. Other states with similar laws against conversion are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The standard clause that unites all these states and their 바카라�anti-conversion바카라� laws is prevention of conversion by marriage. While anti-conversion laws have existed in India since 1967, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were the first states to include a marriage clause. Misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage are all prohibited under Uttarakhand바카라�s Freedom of Religion Act, 2018. Himachal Pradesh followed, by enacting a similar law.

Uttar Pradesh received a lot of attention because of its 바카라�love jihad바카라� law, which sparked a nationwide political debate. Surprisingly, the law does not mention or define the phrase 바카라�love jihad바카라� though it makes forcible religious conversion (even through marriage) punishable by up to five years in prison, and a fine of Rs 15,000 fine. Furthermore, if the girl is a minor or belongs to the SC or ST, the sentence increases to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 25,000. Mass conversions are also punishable under law, with perpetrators facing prison sentences of 3 to 10 years and fines up to Rs 50,000. However, critics believe these laws are meant to harass people from the minority communities, assuage caste Hindus바카라� fears about conversion to Christianity and Islam, and preserving caste hierarchy by preventing lower caste Hindus from switching to Buddhism.

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According to Ghazala Jamil, assistant professor at Centre for Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University, 바카라�The new regulations were passed in states where the ruling BJP enjoys widespread support. The ruling party바카라�s goal with these laws is to incite anti-Muslim feelings in these states. The recent law in UP exemplifies the escalation of these tendencies in the run-up to the state elections. The new anti­-conversion legislation, notably the one in UP, is being debated against the backdrop of a false news campaign stating that Muslim males deceive Hindu women into marrying them for the sole purpose of overtaking the Hindu population and achieving demographic majority status in India,바카라� she tells Outlook.

According to media reports, the new law that criminalises religious conversion has resulted in 108 cases being filed by UP Police in the first year since its enactment. Even as the noose tightens around inter-religious marriage in these states, in metro cities, such marriages continue to take place. A PhD scholar from Jamia Millia Islamia who wishes to remain anonymous, tells Outlook that he finds it challenging to find a house to rent after marriage with his long-time Hindu girlfriend. 바카라�It바카라�s been a year since we got married, but we still haven바카라�t been able to rent a house for ourselves. Land­lords say they do not want to land in trouble by letting a house to an inter-faith couple. Finally, a friend offered us shelter,바카라� he says.

Amid all this, 바카라�love jihad바카라� is yet to find a legal definition and continues to remain an oxymoron.  

(This appeared in the print edition as "War Against Love")

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