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"Love Jihad Manufactured By BJP To Divide Nation": Ashok Gehlot

Mr Gehlot accused the ruling party of violating constitutional provisions and citizens’ personal liberty in choice of marital partners

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has slammed the BJP for stoking fears over "love jihad" and plotting to "divide the nation and disturb communal harmony". Mr Gehlot accused the ruling party of violating constitutional provisions and citizens’ personal liberty in choice of marital partners.

In a series of three strongly-worded tweets posted Friday morning Mr Gehlot also accused the centre of "creating an environment where consenting adults would be at the mercy of state power".

"’Love jihad’ is a word manufactured by the BJP to divide the nation and disturb communal harmony. Marriage is a matter of personal liberty... bringing a law to curb it is completely unconstitutional and it will not stand in any court of law. ’Jihad’ has no place in love," the Chief Minister said in his first tweet.

"They are creating an environment in the nation where consenting adults would be at the mercy of state power. Marriage is a personal decision and they are putting curbs on it, which is like snatching away personal liberty," he said in his second.

Mr Gehlot then described calls against "love jihad" as a "ploy to disrupt communal harmony, fuel social conflict and disregard constitutional provisions...".

"Love jihad" is a pejorative used by right-wing groups to target relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, which, they say, is a ruse to forcibly convert the women.

It is a term not recognised by the centre. In February, the Union Home Ministry told parliament that "love Jihad is not defined in law" and no such case had been reported by central agencies.

That, however, has not stopped a number of BJP-ruled states from talking up what many feel is an unproven right-wing conspiracy theory.

Earlier today the Uttar Pradesh government said a "strict law against ’love jihad’ will soon be brought in the state". On Tuesday the Haryana government made a similar declaration.

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij’s comments came hours after his Madhya Pradesh counterpart said his government was also planning such a law and those found guilty could face up to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

The Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh governments have also made similar statements, as has Assam.

Last month Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s troubleshooter in the northeast, said the party would launch a campaign against "love jihad" cases ahead of state elections due next year.

The shrillest voice in this campaign, though, has been that of Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath.

Ahead of Assembly bypolls on November 3, he cited an Allahabad High Court order on religious conversion for marriage and invoked "Ram naam satya" - a reference to a Hindu funeral chant seen by many as a warning of violence - to threaten "those who... play with our sisters’ respect".