Thursday, June 3, 2010

Love Jihad, a term created by Hindu fundamentalists, fails to spread hatred

Recently the Karnataka State Government informed the Honourable High Court that there existed no movement like Love Jihad to convert non-Muslim girls into Islam.
Love Jihad or Romeo Jihad, some days back, had hit the media headlines. It was perceived that under the movement young Muslim boys from Karnataka and Kerala targeted girls from non-Muslim communities, especially those studying in colleges. By feigning love, it was said, they trapped the Hindu and Christian girls and then made them Muslims only to use them for jihadi activities.

The leaders of the muslim community have been insisting that IT WAS A CREATION OF THE HINDU FUNDAMENTALISTS TO SPREAD HATRED IN THE HEARTS OF THE HINDUS AGAINST MUSLIM YOUTH AND WITH THAT AS AN EXCUSE KEEP MUSLIM BOYS AWAY FROM COLLEGES AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES. They called it a "malicious misinformation campaign" against Muslims.

But a large section of the media, presented Love Jihad as a real threat. They feel no need to verify whether it is true or not. Anything anti muslim sells. Their business is to sell their newspapers by providing to the public sensational news. In this campaign even the judiciary was influenced and was under pressure to act. At this point of time, the Kerala High Court had called the state government to enact a legislation to prevent forceful conversions which the court said was rampant in certain parts of the state.

With the help of the media, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council issued statements stating that up to 4,500 girls were targeted by Love Jihad in the state. Hindu Janajagruthi Samiti claimed that 30,000 girls were converted to Islam in Karnataka alone. Most people believed it. No one thought it necessary to verify. However, the subsequent investigation in both the states proved that it was only “an unholy war” by some mischievous minds.

On the directive of the Kerala HC the Central Home Ministry probed the allegations and found that there was no evidence of the functioning of Love Jihad. The police from both the states also failed to prove existence of Love Jihad.

The latest setback for those spreading hatred in the name of Love Jihad is the submission of the Karnataka State to the HC that there is no movement of such nature. In the report filed on April 22nd the Director General and Inspector General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh said that teams were formed to look into Love Jihad incidents in all the districts. They found that there was no organised attempt by any group or individual in Karnataka to entice girls and women into marriage. This final report on Love Jihad has followed the one interim report filed some months back by the state police.

Ironically, the media has now lost interest in this news . When it was the time to bring out sensational news it was in the forefront and caused much harm to inter community relations. When the truth is exposed it does not go well with the anti muslim readership it has created. Muslim bashing is welcome but the truth is to be ignored. There has never been an instance of an apology from the media for spreading rumours against the muslim community which have later proven to be baseless.

Now, when it is confirmed that there is no Love Jihad movement it is the responsibility of media to find out who created this term. Who is scared that the numbers of the muslim community is growing As mentioned earlier, Hindus and Christians claim thousands of girls from their communities went missing. The media should ask where those girls are. This point needs to be addressed seriously. Media should come forward to tell the world what really happened to those girls. If young girls are really converting to Islam without any organised effort behind it, what could be the reason.

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