“I don’t know about other states, but in Karnataka we are going to end this”: BS Yediyurappa
Bangalore:
“Love Jihad” is a social evil and a law is needed to address it, the Karnataka government said today, revealing that it is consulting experts on the issue. Karnataka is the latest to consider such a law after other BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
The chief minister, BS Yediyurappa, announced that his government would “take severe measures to end” what he called young girls who are attracted with money or love.
“We have seen many reports in the newspapers and in the electronic media about conversions due to the love of jihad. I discussed this with the officials before coming here. I don’t know about other states, but in Karnataka we are going to end this. Using money or love is something we are taking seriously. We will take severe measures to put an end to this, “Yediyurappa said.
Previously, his interior minister, Basavaraj Bommai, had called it a “social evil” that must be addressed by law.
“This jihad of love has been there for some time and it is a social evil. A law is necessary, that has been the noisy thinking of various sectors of society in all states,” Bommai said.
“We are looking at what steps we are going to take and we are also consulting with our legal experts. Based on those decisions, we would also like to have some protection … this incentive of young people to love jihad and then to conversion,” he said. the minister of the interior.
“Love jihad” is a pejorative used by right-wing groups to target relations between Muslim men and Hindu women, which they say is a ruse to convert women by force.
It is a term not officially recognized by the central government. In February this year, the Interior Ministry had told parliament that: “Love Jihad is not defined in law” and central agencies had not reported such a case.
“Article 25 of the Constitution establishes the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morals and health. Several courts have confirmed this opinion, including the Kerala High Court. The term ‘love jihad’ it is not defined in the laws, “said Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy at the Lok Sabha.
Before the Chief Minister of Karnataka made it official, a senior BJP leader in the state, CT Ravi, had indicated in a tweet that the state could enact a law prohibiting religious conversion for the purpose of marriage.
“Following the order of the Allahabad High Court, Karnataka will enact a law banning religious conversions for the sake of marriage … Anyone who participates in the act of conversion will face severe and swift punishment (sic),” he said in a tweet. which referred to Muslim men as “jihadists.”
The Allahabad High Court had ruled on October 31 that religious conversion for the purpose of marriage is illegal. The court issued the order and dismissed a petition from an interfaith couple in Uttar Pradesh asking that the police and the woman’s father be ordered not to harass them. The couple had married in July.
Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, referring to the order, invoked a Hindu dirge to warn people against it, saying: “Jihadists of love will say Ram Naam Satya Hai.” Haryana and Madhya Pradesh also said they would explore the possibility of enacting laws to control such conversions.
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