Haryana takes cue from UP’s Adityanath, mulls law against love jihad
The Haryana government is mulling a law against “love jihad”, Home Minister Anil Vij said on Sunday, a day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced his government will bring a legislation to deal with it.
“Haryana is contemplating a law against love jihad,” Vij said in a tweet in Hindi.
On Saturday, Adityanath had said his government would come out with a law to deal with “love jihad” and used the Hindu funeral chant ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ to threaten those who don’t respect their daughters and sisters.
He said posters would be put up of those involved in “love jihad”, a derogatory coinage used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.
Addressing election rallies in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur and Deoria, Adityanath also welcomed the Allahabad High Court ruling declaring that conversion for the sole purpose of marriage is not valid.
Last week, a 21-year-old college student, Nikita, was shot dead in Haryana’s Ballabhgarh by a man. The victim’s family has alleged that the man was pressuring her to convert to Islam in order to marry him.
Some Hindu outfits have alleged that the woman’s murder is a case of “love jihad”.
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) working president Alok Kumar met the victim’s family on Friday and expressed concern over the incidents of “love jihad”.
“A talented young girl, ambitious to reach the skies was murdered by Islamic jihadists at a public place and in broad daylight. It is very difficult to bear this loss,” a statement issued by the VHP quoted Kumar as saying.
It said “increasing incidents of love jihad, religious conversions and atrocities on Hindus” are a cause for concern.
The Haryana government has set up a three-member Special Investigation Team to probe the case.
The police have arrested two men — Tausif, the main accused, and Rehan — in the case.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
